late on september 10, a tropical storm warning was issued by the national hurricane center for the southern coast of the dominican republic alongside a hurricane watch for the barahona peninsula. the hurricane watch for barahona was upgraded to a hurricane warning early on september 11. later that day, hurricane watches were posted for the dominican republic's southern coast, jamaica, and the southern coast of cuba east of cabo cruz; the hurricane watch in jamaica was upgraded to a hurricane warning by the end of the day. hurricane warnings for the southern coast of haiti were also posted on september 11. cayman airways evacuated residents from the cayman islands ahead of gilbert.