Summary

NAME: LATAM GUSTAV 20080830I TAPE: EF08/0883 IN_TIME: 10:06:37:03 DURATION: 00:03:33:17 SOURCES: AP TELEVISION DATELINE: Various, 30 August 2008 RESTRICTIONS: SHOTLIST Georgetown, Cayman Islands - 30 August 2008 1. Waves hitting port 2. Man on bike watching waves 3. Various of security tape stopping people approaching coast 4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eziathamae Bodden, Georgetown resident: "Well the storm, thank God it wasn't any worse. Thinking back about four years ago, when Ivan hit - this is nothing to compare with Ivan." 5. Various of waiter cleaning tables 6. Various of men fixing electrical lines Cancun, Mexico - 30 August 2008 7. Wide top shot of coast line 8. Wide of para-glider in sky 9. Top shot of people in sea 10. Mid of red flag warning of strong currents and waves Surgidero de Batabano, south of Havana, Cuba - 30 August 2008 11. Man pushing a fridge along road 12. People walking down street in rain, one woman holding lamp 13. Pile of mattresses in house, people moving furniture 14. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Juan Carlos Romero, Civil Defence officer: "The first thing is to save human lives and the property of the state, that's our main goal but first of all preserve human lives." 15. Residents walking along path in rain 16. Various of residents getting onto buses 17. Woman waving from bus window, as bus drives away Havana, Cuba - 30 August, 2008 18. Wide of fishing boats in Havana Harbour with Morro Castle in background 19. Medium of crane pulling boat out of water 20. Wide of family securing home 21. Medium shot man drilling ceiling 22. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Jesus Hernandez, Havana Resident: "Everyone is preparing in case the hurricane comes. The hurricane is threatening and very big. You must be prepared for whatever may come." 23. Wide of people in line outside store 24. Wide of closed store front 25. Close up sign on store door (Spanish) "Closed due to evacuation" 25. Travelling shot on Malecon Avenue in rain with Morro Castle in background 26. Various of waves hitting Malecon sea wall with US Interests Section in background STORYLINE Gustav howled into Cuba's Isla de Juventud as a monstrous Category Four hurricane on Saturday while both Cubans and US citizens scrambled to flee the path of the fast-growing storm. Forecasters said it could gain yet more power, becoming a top-scale hurricane with 160 mile-per-hour (255 kilometre-per-hour) winds in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, before weakening a little ahead of a likely collision on Monday with the US coast. Gustav rolled over the Cayman Islands on Friday with fierce winds that tore down trees and power lines. Big surging waves pounded at Grand Cayman island, but there was little flooding, and wind damage was limited due to preparation work ahead of the storm's arrival. "Well the storm, thank God it wasn't any worse. Thinking back about four years ago, when Ivan hit - this is nothing to compare with Ivan," said Eziathamae Bodden, a Georgetown resident. Across the Gulf of Mexico, Americans made wary by Hurricane Katrina streamed out of New Orleans and other coastal cities. A million people have taken to highways along the US Gulf Coast, boarding up homes and businesses and fleeing Gustav by bus and automobile as the season's most powerful Atlantic storm took aim at Louisiana. Even forecasters at the National Hurricane Centre in Miami were surprised at how quickly Gustav gained strength as it charged toward Cuba. In the Mexican touristic resort of Cancun, though, things appeared as normal and tourists were seen swimming in the sea. Gustav already has killed 81 people by triggering floods and landslides in other Caribbean nations. In Cuba officials were evacuating some 190-thousand people from low-lying parts of westernmost Cuba, Pinar del Rio province, where the tobacco for Cuba's famed cigars is grown. The state news agency reported that 50-thousand already had been evacuated farther east. Cuban state television announced that all buses and trains to and from Havana were suspended, as was ferry service to the Isla de Juventud, the outlying Cuban island next in Gustav's path. Residents evacuated out of the town of Surgidero de Batabano, south of the capital and approximately 5-thousand people strong. The town is also 50 centimetres (19.6 inches) above the sea level and one of the first to flood anytime a storm hits the area. Stiff winds whipped intermittent rains across Havana, where police officers in blue and orange rain coats supervised workers removing stones, tree branches and other debris from the storied beachfront. Angry waves crashed against the sea wall below. Authorities announced they were prepared to "protect" the 20-thousand tourists in Matanzas province, which includes the famous beach resort of Varadero.