Hurricane Ike powers toward Cuba, Gulf

After ravaging the Turks and Caicos Islands, Hurricane Ike headed toward the Bahamas, Cuba and the US Gulf Coast, which was being battered by tropical storm Hanna yesterday.

Ike, an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 hurricane, barreled across the low-lying Turks and Caicos Islands near the southern Bahamas in predawn hours yesterday, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

An immediate concern was its effect on Haiti, where a humanitarian crisis was unfolding after flooding from Hanna left more than 500 people dead and thousands in desperate need of food, clean water and shelter.