US Gulf States Warning

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Hurricane Gustav struck Haiti on Tuesday and sent global oil prices soaring on fears it could become "extremely dangerous" even before it reaches the Gulf of Mexico.

The hurricane roared ashore with top sustained winds near 90 mph (145 kph) at about 1 p.m. EDT, about 10 miles west of the city of Jacmel and 40 miles from the capital of Port-au-Prince. Heavy rains pelted the area, bending palm trees and kicking up the surf, but there were no immediate reports of flooding or damage.

"The wind is blowing very hard," said Jean-Michel Sabbat, a civil protection coordinator for the Jacmel area.

Oil investors feared the hurricane could eventually threaten the Gulf's many drilling platforms. Traders on the New York Mercantile Exchange were caught off guard by how fast the storm grew, and the price for a barrel of oil jumped $5 within minutes Tuesday morning.

"Most indications are that Gustav will be an extremely dangerous hurricane in the northwestern Caribbean Sea in a few days," the Miami-based National Hurricane Center projected.

Hurricane Gustav hits Haiti, drives up oil prices

Officials said the St. Johns River was not expected to crest until later this week, meaning several inches more of flooding for families living near Lake Harney, Lake Monroe, Lake Kathryn and Lake Jesup.

Images

Video: Storm Aftermath

For more videos on Tropical Storm Fay go to our resources video news feeds and click on Tropical Storm Fay.

WASHINGTON - In northern Greenland, a part of the Arctic that had seemed immune from global warming, new satellite images show a growing giant crack and an 11-square-mile chunk of ice hemorrhaging off a major glacier, scientists said Thursday.

And that's led the university professor who spotted the wounds in the massive Petermann glacier to predict disintegration of a major portion of the Northern Hemisphere's largest floating glacier within the year.

If it does worsen and other northern Greenland glaciers melt faster, then it could speed up sea level rise, already increasing because of melt in southern Greenland.

"The pictures speak for themselves," said Jason Box, a glacier expert at the Byrd Polar Research Center at Ohio State University. He spotted the changes while studying new satellite images. "This crack is moving, and moving closer and closer to the front. It's just a matter of time till a much larger piece is going to break off. ... It is imminent."

Cracks in Greenland Ice

State of Emergency Declaration

Holding stationary over the northeastern part of Florida for hours, Fay dumped rains of 50 to 75 centimeters (20 to 30 inches) in some parts of the state, and caused widespread flooding.

"This storm is turning into a serious catastrophic flooding event, particularly in southern Brevard County," Crist said on Wednesday as he sought the emergency declaration giving Florida access to US federal disaster assistance funds.

As of 5 pm (2100 GMT), Fay's center was just west of the location where it made landfall two and a half hours earlier, at Flagler Beach, 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Cape Canaveral, where the US space agency NASA has a launch pad.

"Fay is moving toward the west near five miles per hour (seven kilometers per hour.) This general slow motion should continue for the next couple of days," the National Hurricane Center said in its latest bulletin.