Tropical Storm Gustav has strengthened towards renewed hurricane force as it approaches Jamaica, where residents have boarded up homes in preparation.
Gustav gathered force about 130km (80 miles) east of the capital Kingston and is expected to move "very close".
The storm has already claimed 22 lives in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
It is expected to head towards the US, prompting evacuation preparations in New Orleans, three years after it was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
It not clear where Tropical Storm Gustav will hit. Meteorologists say it could be anywhere from south Texas to Florida by Tuesday.
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Oil prices on trading markets rose amid forecasts that Gustav could threaten oil installations in the region.
'Life-threatening floods'
The Jamaican government has issued a hurricane warning, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Florida said.
See map of the region
With maximum winds of 110km/h (70mph), the storm was nearly stationary off Jamaica's coast but was expected to pass "very close" later on Thursday.
A hurricane is defined by winds of 119km/h (74mph), according to the NHC.
Emergency officials there have set up shelters and dispatched relief supplies to flood-prone areas.
A hurricane watch is also in effect for all the Cayman Islands, although Cuba has replaced a hurricane warning for its eastern Granma province with a tropical storm warning.
The centre warns that Gustav is also expected to produce heavy rainfall - up to 25 inches (64cm) in some places - over Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica and the Caymans.
"These rains will likely produce life-threatening flash floods and mud slides," it said.
Meanwhile, the US state of Louisiana and New Orleans are making their own preparations ahead of Gustav's arrival.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard.
New Orleans has also begun planning a possible mandatory evacuation, hoping to prevent the chaos it saw after Katrina, which struck the city three years ago on Friday.
Gustav is the seventh tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.
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(BBC)
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