Rescue workers were today considering evacuating New Orleans as it faced a hurricane threat three years to the day that Katrina devastated the city.

Tourists and oil workers fled today as Hurricane Gustav swamped eastern Jamaica on a path to hit the Cayman Islands with winds near hurricane force.

INDIAN DREAMS, a Dublin based travel company specialising in travel to the subcontinent don’t just offer the normal package holidays.

Hurricane Felix rapidly strengthened into a dangerous Category 5 storm as it headed through the Caribbean Sea towards Central America, where forecasters said it could make landfall with “potentially catastrophic” effect.

FOR the young man on the door, it was time to move on.

IF YOU’VE a million dollars to spend on a new home and a three-bed semi in south Dublin doesn’t catch your imagination, those willing to travel can find exotic alternatives.

Fire broke out on a cruise ship in the Caribben today and spread to several cabins, killing one person and injuring several others, authorities said.

Hardware stores that sent supplies to areas devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita restocked their shelves for anxious Floridians waiting to see if Hurricane Wilma would turn toward the peninsula, which forecasters said could happen by the weekend.

TROPICAL Storm Wilma strengthened yesterday after forming in the northwestern Caribbean, tying the record for the most named storms in an Atlantic season and following a path that some forecasters believe could menace the Gulf Coast next week as a hurricane.

Fiercely contested elections today in the Cayman Islands pits against each other two candidates who want greater autonomy from Britain for the Caribbean offshore banking haven.

The Cayman Islands’ strongest earthquake since 1900 rattled windows and sent residents fleeing into the streets, according to islanders and the US Geological Survey.

Hurricane Ivan slammed into Cuba’s sparsely populated western tip with the worst of its 160mph (257kph) eyewall, strengthened to a storm of catastrophic strength after it smashed giant waves on to Grand Cayman island and readied to attack the Gulf of Mexico and US oil interests.

HURRICANE Ivan, one of the fiercest Atlantic storms recorded, grew even more powerful and headed toward Cuba yesterday after pummelling the Cayman Islands, Jamaica and Grenada, killing at least 65 on a route that could take it to the US coast.

A strengthened Hurricane Ivan headed towards Cuba’s tobacco growing north west corner, with winds reaching 195 mph tonight, after ravaging the Cayman Islands.

Hurricane Ivan pummelled the Cayman Islands with fierce winds that ripped off roofs and floodwaters that swamped homes, then strengthened to an extremely dangerous Category 5 storm as it headed for western Cuba today.

HURRICANE Ivan lashed the tiny Cayman Islands with ferocious winds and driving rain yesterday after devastating Jamaica and Grenada in a deadly trek through the Caribbean.

Hurricane Ivan battered the Cayman Islands with ferocious 150mph winds today, threatening a direct hit as it flooded homes and ripped up roofs and trees.

Hurricane Ivan lost its catastrophic capabilities as it skirted Grand Cayman today, but it still uprooted trees, burst the banks of canals and flooded some homes with winds near 155mph.

Hurricane Ivan has weakened slightly as it left behind a trail of destruction in Jamaica and bore down on the Cayman Islands with winds close to 155 mph, according to the US National Hurricane Centre.

Hurricane Charley is expected to slam into the British Cayman Islands today after spinning away from Jamaica.

SOME individuals who narrowly escaped inclusion in the Ansbacher lists may still face probes on suspicion of tax evasion or other wrongdoing.

British Airways plans to cancel its four weekly flights between Gatwick airport and Montego Bay in Jamaica in April.