Hurricane Gustav triggered a killer landslide in Haiti, a spike in oil prices and fear throughout the Gulf Coast as forecasters said it is all but certain to grow into a major hurricane by this weekend.

The threat to South Florida and the Keys remained relatively low because a high-pressure system parked over the state is likely to keep Gustav to the west and south.

''That ridge of pressure is protecting us from a direct hit,'' said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for the National Hurricane Center in West Miami-Dade. ``It's going to keep pushing Gustav further into the Gulf.''

Gustav thrashed Haiti on Tuesday, ripping off roofs and downing power lines with its 90 mph winds. It made landfall in the afternoon near Jacmel and pounded the country with several inches of rain. Heavy rain caused a landslide in the mountain town of Benet, killing one man, officials said.

The official forecast track shows Gustav gaining strength in the next two days over the warm waters between Jamaica and Cuba before emerging in the Gulf of Mexico as ''an extremely dangerous hurricane'' with 120 mph winds possible, hurricane center specialists said.

As of late Tuesday, the center of Gustav was about 155 miles southeast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and the storm was moving northwest at 7 mph but was expected to make a slight turn to the west overnight.

Jamaica, Cuba and the Cayman Islands were under hurricane watches, and oil companies and speculators began to brace for a possible hit to oil rigs off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas. Oil prices shot up $5 a barrel Tuesday, and prices of futures in natural gas, heating oil and gasoline also rose.

Gustav could cause fuel prices to jump by 10 cents a gallon before the travel-heavy Labor Day weekend, Tampa-based stock trader James Cordier told The Associated Press.

The storm shuttered Haitian government offices and businesses early and forced the lower chamber to postpone a vote on the country's new prime minister and government. Gustav's winds reached the capital of Port-au-Prince and nearby towns, where resident Wilkinson Jean-Paul said storm debris littered the streets.

''It's coming nonstop, with a lot of pressure,'' said Jean-Paul, of Leogane. ``You definitely feel like it's a hurricane.''

In preparation for Gustav's Wednesday approach to the southern coast of Cuba, U.S. sailors in Guantánamo Bay tied down lawn furniture and secured war-on-terror detainees. Public works staff stacked sandbags at the commissary while troops and civilians in residential areas were told to bring in trash cans and lawn ornaments.

Senior officials remained tight-lipped about what their plans were for detainees being held at a secret location somewhere on the 45-square-mile base. ''We'll make sure they're not at risk,'' Army Brig. Gen. Gregory Zanetti said.

People in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast were keeping anxious eyes on Gustav's progress. Some longer-term computer models -- subject to significant error -- predict Gustav could be a ferocious Category 3 storm within 150 miles of New Orleans by Sunday afternoon.

Friday will mark three years since Hurricane Katrina barreled into the Louisiana coast as a Category 3 storm, overwhelming New Orleans' levees, causing more than 1,800 deaths and more than $81 billion in damage. As of late Tuesday, officials urged coastal residents to have their disaster plans ready, but no evacuations had been ordered.

''We know it's going to be a very strong hurricane, but beyond that it's too early to pin down exactly where it's going to go or when it's going to hit,'' Feltgen said. ``People just have to be ready.''

In South Florida, Gustav's projected path away from the state brought some relief to water managers still trying to deal with the onslaught of rain that Tropical Storm Fay dumped last week.

Miami Herald staff writers Carol Rosenberg and Curtis Morgan contributed to this report.

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