Haiti escapes worst of hurricane

Hurricane Gustav caused a killer landslide and dumped torrential rain on southern Haiti before weakening to a tropical storm today.

Rising water threatened Haiti’s crops amid protests over high food prices, and oil prices rose on fears the storm could batter oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

Jamaica issued a tropical storm warning.

The storm was lingering over Haiti’s poor, deforested southern peninsula, and water levels were rising in banana, bean and vegetable fields.

One man was killed in a landslide in the mountain town of Benet.

The US National Hurricane Centre said Gustav weakened to a tropical storm with winds near 60 mph but was expected to regain hurricane strength once it cleared Haiti.