At least 51 people have died in Haiti as a result of Tropical Storm Gustav, which hit the impoverished Caribbean nation as a hurricane, an official has said.
'There are 51 people killed,' said Alta Jean-Baptiste, the director of Haiti's civil protection office.
The deaths occurred primarily as a result of flooding and mudslides in western and southern Haiti, she said.
A state of emergency has been declared in the US state of Louisiana ahead of the possible arrival of Tropical Storm Gustav early next week.
Contingency plans have also been drawn up to completely evacuate the city of New Orleans.
The storm is forecast to be a Category 3 hurricane by the time it reaches the US Gulf Coast area on Monday.
It is expected to graze southern Jamaica and the western tip of Cuba this evening before nearing the oil fields of the Gulf of Mexico as a powerful hurricane.
Not since Hurricane Katrina three years ago and Hurricane Rita, which followed in its wake, have residents faced government orders to evacuate their homes and businesses.
Many are still struggling to rebuild their lives in a city famed for its jazz clubs and Mardi Gras festival.
Last night, two days before the third anniversary of Katrina's landfall on 29 August 2005, Gustav drifted away from Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The storm was expected to strengthen to a hurricane over the Gulf's warm waters, and US landfall could be anywhere from the Florida Panhandle to Texas.
But Gustav's most likely track is directly towards New Orleans.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal put New Orleans residents on alert, declaring a state of emergency and saying evacuations could begin as early as Friday, just before the Labor Day holiday weekend.
'Our state is better prepared than it has been before to respond to a major disaster,' Governor Jindal said. 'But I want to emphasise that our citizens have a personal responsibility.'
Storm levees broke under the onslaught of Katrina in 2005, flooding 80% of New Orleans and killing almost 1,500 people in the city and along the Gulf Coast. The hurricane caused at least €54bn in wind and flood damage.
City officials said New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin would order an evacuation if Gustav looked likely to come ashore with wind speeds over 178km/h - a Category 3 hurricane or higher on the 5-step Saffir-Simpson scale.
'It's still too early to tell exactly what it's going to do,' city emergency preparedness director Jerry Sneed said.
Denver trip cut short
Mayor Nagin, the city's public face during Katrina and Rita, cut short his trip to the Democratic National Convention in Denver to return home.
During Katrina and Rita, many city residents ignored mandatory evacuation orders and remained to guard their homes and businesses from looters.
Mr Sneed said residents would not be physically forced to leave their homes during an evacuation order, which would be given about 30 hours before the storm comes ashore. At that time, all major roads would be rerouted to carry traffic away from New Orleans, Mr Jindal said.
But they assume responsibility if they stay, Mr Sneed said. 'If a tree comes through the roof and buries them underneath there, they're going to be on their own,' he said.
He added he was confident that floodgates and pumping stations that failed during the 2005 storms would bear up.
'The citizens should not be worried about the flooding again,' he said.
Mr Jindal activated the state's catastrophic action team and declared a state of emergency, allowing him to activate the Louisiana National Guard.
The Republican governor, elected in October 2007, is hoping to avoid the heavy criticism that fell on his Democratic predecessor, Kathleen Blanco, for not reacting swiftly after Katrina.
Federal agencies and the New Orleans city government also faced the wrath of residents over their response to the disaster. US President George W Bush himself was severely criticised for his role, including his initial decision to view the devastated city only from the air.
After Katrina, chaos broke out in New Orleans as stranded flood victims waited days for help. Many residents who fled the hurricane have not returned.
Mr Jindal said that if the threat continued, the state could make 700 buses available for assisted evacuations tomorrow to carry about 35,000 people who need help due to medical or other conditions.
Amtrak trains were standing by to move 7,000 elderly residents to safety, Mr Sneed said.
