on september 12, a hurricane watch was issued for the cayman islands, and the hurricane watch for the southern coast of cuba was extended to cienfuegos, with the portion of the watch east of camagüey upgraded to a hurricane warning. that evening, the yucatán peninsula was placed under a hurricane watch between felipe carrillo puerto and progreso. this area included the resort cities of cancún and cozumel. the following day, hurricane watches were posted for pinar del río and isla de la juventud, and the cayman islands were placed under a hurricane warning. the watches in western cuba and the yucatán peninsula were replaced with warnings at about mid-day september 13. as gilbert approached the yucatán peninsula on september 14, the hurricane warning in the region was extended to cover the entire coast between chetumal and champotón, while a hurricane watch was posted for the northern district of belize.