MIAMI, Aug 27: Ernesto grew into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season on Sunday and threatened deforested Haiti with floods and mudslides as it headed for the Gulf of Mexico a year after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.

Cuba issued a hurricane warning for its eastern provinces and residents were told to prepare for the approaching storm, which had 75mph winds as it swept through the Caribbean Sea just off the south coast of Haiti.

Forecasters said Ernesto could become a Category 2 hurricane with 98mph winds in the Gulf, home to a quarter of US oil and gas production, and its most likely path would take it ashore on Florida’s west coast on Thursday. The storm promised more misery for Florida, which has endured eight hurricanes in the past two years.

The storm was about 115 miles southwest of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, at 11am (1500 GMT) on Sunday.

It was moving northwest at about 9mph and was expected to be near the southeastern coast of Cuba on Monday morning.

A hurricane warning was in effect for the southern coast of Haiti.

Forecasters said up to 12 inches of rain — and even up to 20 inches in isolated areas — could fall on the island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.—Reuters