Tropical Storm Gustav is still far off in the Caribbean, but Louisiana has already declared a state of emergency and put the National Guard on standby in an effort to avoid the chaos of Hurricane Katrina three years ago.

Tourists and oil workers fled today as Gustav swamped eastern Jamaica on a path to hit the Cayman Islands with winds near hurricane force. Gustav swirled away from the island of Hispaniola, where it killed 51 people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and closed in on Jamaica's low-lying capital, about 40 miles to the west.

Current projections show Gustav possibly hitting the Gulf coast early next week. In New Orleans, officials have begun preliminary planning to possibly evacuate and lock down the city.

One the eve of the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's onslaught, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was scheduled to meet with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin this afternoon to discuss storm preparations. They will hold a news briefing at 4:45 p.m. in Baton Rouge

National Guard troops are at the ready and batteries and water bottles are selling briskly in New Orleans. Guardsmen in Shreveport today were getting their gear together and waiting for deployment orders to head south.