The National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Hanna has formed northeast of the northern Leeward Islands in the Atlantic.

The eighth tropical storm of the Atlantic season had top sustained winds near 40 mph Thursday.

Its center was about 305 miles northeast of the northern Leeward Islands and was moving toward the west-northwest near 12 mph.

Hanna could produce rainfall of 1 to 4 inches across parts of the Leeward Islands.

It's too soon to say if Hanna will affect the U.S.

Tropical Storm Gustav continues its march through the Caribbean.

The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane warning for Jamaica, a hurricane watch for the Cayman Islands and a tropical storm watch for the Cuban province of Granma.

Gustav, with maximum sustained winds near 70 miles per hour, is located about 45 miles east of Kingston, Jamaica and about 350 miles east-southeast of Grand Cayman.

Tourists are evacuating from the Cayman Islands and resorts are closing as Tropical Storm Gustav nears.

Stacey McLaughlan of Albany, New York, says she and her husband were told to leave their resort by noon Thursday.

If they don't leave the island, they'll have to go to a shelter.

Cayman Airways pilot Chris Witt says a lot of evacuation flights are planned for Thursday.

McLaughlan says she and her husband had to pay an extra US$1,000 to get out because their airline refused to bring in a plane to return them to the U.S.

Gustav is expected to hit the Caymans by late Friday.

Other tourists flocked to the airport in the capital, George Town, to get out before the storm, cutting their holidays short.

Cities all along the Gulf Coast are hoping that what'll again be Hurricane Gustav won't bear a resemblance to Hurricane Katrina.

But with the third anniversary of Katrina looming, they're also not taking any chances.

In Louisiana, National Guard troops are standing by while batteries and water bottles are selling briskly in stores from south Texas to Florida's panhandle.

Forecasters say Gustav could make landfall anywhere along that span as a major hurricane near the end of Labor Day weekend.

In New Orleans, officials have begun preliminary planning to evacuate and lock down the city in hopes of avoiding the catastrophe that followed Hurricane Katrina.

They're also warning there won't be a massive shelter at the Superdome this time.

Instead, the state has arranged for buses and trains to take about 30,000 people to safety.

Nearly 8,000 people are already signed up for transportation help.

(Photos courtesy of NOAA)

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