STEVE INSKEEP, host:
It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep.
This is the moment when most of us can do nothing but wait. People who evacuated from the path of Hurricane Gustav are waiting to see if their homes survive. People who chose to remain at home are waiting to see what the next few hours will bring.
Government officials are waiting to see if three years of recovery from Katrina will be washed away. Republicans are waiting to see how the disaster affects their national convention, and both parties are waiting to see what the political effects will be.
We're going to talk about all of that over the course of this hour, but we begin with people for whom the wait is over. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports on the damage Gustav has already afflicted on the Caribbean.
JASON BEAUBIEN: Gustav formed more than a week ago, south of the Dominican Republic. As it approached Haiti, it intensified to a category one hurricane. Gustav ravaged the poorest nation in the hemisphere, slamming down trees and ripping apart flimsy homes.
The storm system stalled over Haiti, dumping up to two feet of rain on some parts of the country. The heavy rains triggered floods and mudslides. The Haitian government says more than 60 people were killed in the storm. A landslide in the neighboring Dominican Republic killed eight.
Gustav weakened back down to a tropical storm after passing over Haiti in the middle of last week. It looked to be on track to plow into Guantanamo Bay on the far eastern end of Cuba, but cut almost due west and slammed into Jamaica. The storm swirled over Jamaica for almost a day and killed at least seven people there.
Back out over the waters of the Caribbean, Gustav regained hurricane strength. By the time it powered into western Cuba, it was a massive category four storm. Gustav lashed the island with winds of up to 145 miles per hour. More than 250,000 people were evacuated out Gustav's path.
State-run media and witnesses in Cuba said that there was little left on the ground where the eye of the storm hit.
Unidentified Man: (Spanish spoken)
BEAUBIEN: Cuban television reported extensive flooding. As of late Sunday, most of western Cuba and the capital Havana were still without power.
Jason Beaubien, NPR News, Mexico City. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
