PICTURE! Above is a map of Isle of Youth (Isla de la Juventud) that Hurricane Gustav is hitting! LALATE has Gustav’s Isle of Youth path, maps of details just breaking.

The Isle of Youth is off of Cuba. 1:30 PST Saturday research out of Cuba is reporting the following warning to residents (giving earlier today).

The whole of the western half of Cuba must continue paying maximum attention to the evolution and future trajectory of Hurricane Gustav. The area of immediate danger ranges from Pinar del Río province to the two Havana provinces, including the Isle of Youth.

Given that it is a large hurricane in the vicinity of Cuba, Gustav’s area of influence will be extensive, so that attention needs to be focused on a wide area, not at one fixed point. Its current movement will affect Cuba during all of today and into the early hours of Sunday morning.

Of greatest concern for the Isle of Youth – flooding.

The rainfall will be heavy and locally intense. There will be heavy seas and flooding in low-lying areas of the southern coast from Las Tunas to Cienfuegos, that will extend during the morning to from Matanzas to Pinar del Río, as well as the Isle of Youth.

Hurricane force winds are currently hitting the Isle of Youth. The Isle will feel Gustav’s affect Saturday through Sunday.

More recently, just within the last few hours, NHC has issued the following warning for residents of the Isle of Youth that describes Gustav now on Saturday as upgraded to Category 4:

“200 PM EDT SAT AUG 30 2008
…GUSTAV BECOMES AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE… …WESTERN EYEWALL DIRECTLY IMPACTING THE ISLE OF YOUTH… A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE CUBAN PROVINCES OF PINAR DEL RIO…LA HABANA…CIUDAD DE LA HABANA…ISLA DE JUVENTUD…MATANZAS…AND CIENFUEGOS. PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY IN THE HURRICANE WARNING AREA SHOULD HAVE ALREADY BEEN
COMPLETED.”

Here is the location of Gustav and the Isle of Youth:

“AT 200 PM EDT…1800Z…THE EYE OF HURRICANE GUSTAV WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 21.6 NORTH…LONGITUDE 82.5 WEST…NEAR THE ISLE OF YOUTH…OR ABOUT 155 MILES…250 KM…EAST OF THE WESTERN TIP OF CUBA AND ABOUT 110 MILES…180 KM…SOUTH OF HAVANA CUBA.”

Below is an aerial map of the Isle of Youth


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