Gustav swelled to a fearsome category 3 hurricane today with winds of 185 kph as it approached western Cuba on a track to hit the US Gulf Coast. The hurricane has already claimed the lives of 71 people in the Caribbean, as it struck the Cayman Islands and Jamaica yesterday. The US National Hurricane Center in Miami called the storm "dangerous" and said it had reached the status of a major hurricane, the second one of this Atlantic season after Bertha in July. Gustav's fierce winds, hitting three years after the category 5 Hurricane Katrina, tore down trees and power lines. It is expected to cross Cuba's cigar country today and head into the Gulf of Mexico by tomorrow. Gustav first struck Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, the smaller easternmost "Sister Islands" in the chain. Storm surge and heavy rains flooded the streets. More than 1,100 people were in government shelters in the three islands as high waves and heavy winds battered the chain, the National Emergency Operations Center said in a statement. No injuries were reported. "We're just trying to wait it out," said Juliana O'Connor-Connolly, who represents the islands in the Cayman legislature. She said about 40 people were riding out the storm in her home, which at 20 metres elevation is safe from flooding but still vulnerable to winds that ripped out hundreds of fruit trees on the farm. By 5am today, Gustav was centered about 410km east-southeast of the western tip of Cuba and moving northwest. Cayman Islands authorities did not impose a curfew but urged people to remain indoors to avoid interfering with emergency workers. Hotels asked guests to leave and, after the airport closed, prepared to shelter those who remained. Chris Smith, of Frederick, Maryland, said his hotel handed out wrist bands marked with guests' names and room numbers so that "if something happens they can quickly identify us". "That was a little bit sobering," he said, standing outside the hotel with his luggage. The storm killed four people in a daylong march across the length of Jamaica, where it ripped off roofs and downed power lines. About 4,000 people were displaced from their homes, with about half relocated to shelters. The Prime Minister of Jamaica, Bruce Golding, said the government sent helicopters yesterday to rescue 31 people trapped by floods. At least 59 people died in Haiti and eight in the Dominican Republic. *AP Source: MCT, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration