HAVANA, Cuba (AP) -- Gustav is growing dramatically. It is now a dangerous Category-4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 145 miles per hour. And the U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm, which has already killed more than 80 people across the Caribbean, could become a Category-5 hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico by tomorrow -- with sustained maximum winds of 160 miles per hour.
Category-5 is the highest ranking assigned to hurricanes, requiring winds of at least 155 miles per hour.
Cuban officials raced to evacuate more than 240,000 people from the western part of that island nation, as the storm bore-down on that region Saturday. And to the north, along the U.S. Gulf Coast, people are already clogging highways fleeing New Orleans -- the city that was devastated by hurricane Katrina, exactly three years ago this weekend.
Cuba grounded all national airline flights, though planes bound for international destinations were still taking off from Havana. Authorities also canceled all buses and trains to and from the capital, as well as ferry and air service to an outlying island-province.
Gustav could strike the U.S. Gulf coast anywhere from the Florida Panhandle to Texas as early as Tuesday. But forecasters said there was an increasing chance that New Orleans will get slammed by at least tropical-storm-force winds.
People began pouring out of the city along the highways and the government announced plans for broader evacuations. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it expects a ``huge number'' of Gulf Coast residents will be told to leave the region this weekend.
As much as 80-percent of the Gulf of Mexico's oil and gas production could be shut down as a precaution if Gustav enters as a major storm, weather research firm Planalytics predicted. Oil companies have already evacuated hundreds of workers from offshore platforms.
Meanwhile, the hurricane center said Tropical Storm Hanna was projected to near the Turks and Caicos Islands late Sunday or on Monday, then curl through the Bahamas by early next week before possibly threatening Cuba.
