Deadly Ike kills at least 319

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-08 14:56

Camaguey, Cuba -- Hurricane Ike's winds and massive storm surge ripped apart houses and toppled trees Monday as the deadly storm roared across Cuba toward Havana and its historic but decaying old buildings. Forecasters said it could enter the Gulf of Mexico next, with Louisiana among the likely targets.

Haitians cross a river after floods near Port-au-Prince September 7, 2008. Officials said at least 61 people had died in floods in impoverished Haiti on top of 500 killed last week by Tropical Storm Hanna. [Agencies]

More than 770,000 Cubans evacuated to shelters or higher ground ahead of the Category 3 hurricane, which earlier raked the Bahamas and worsened floods in Haiti that have already killed at least 319 people.

"We are preparing for a strong hit," Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage told state television.

On Florida's Key West, tourists and residents alike were ordered to evacuate ahead of Ike's expected arrival Tuesday and a steady stream of traffic filled the lone highway from the island. Ike was forecast to make landfall later between the Florida Panhandle and the Texas coast -- with New Orleans once again in the crosshairs.

The hurricane also slowed efforts to bring oil and gas production back online in the Gulf of Mexico following Hurricane Gustav.

Ike first slammed into the Turks and Caicos and the southernmost Bahamas islands as a Category 4 hurricane, but thousands rode out the storm in shelters and there was no immediate word of deaths on the low-lying islands.

It made landfall in eastern Cuba late Sunday night, said meteorologist Todd Kimberlain at the US National Hurricane Center, and was forecast to hit Havana, the capital of 2 million people, before it moves into the Gulf of Mexico Tuesday morning.

At 11 pm EDT (0300 GMT), Ike was a Category 3 hurricane with top sustained winds of 120 mph (195 kph). It was centered near Cabo Lucretia, about 135 miles (220 kms) east of Camaguey, moving westward at 13 mph (20 kph).

State television broadcast images of the storm surge washing over coastal homes in the easternmost city of Baracoa, and reported that dozens of dwellings were damaged beyond repair. Former President Fidel Castro released a written statement calling on Cubans to heed security measures to ensure no one dies.

Foreign tourists were pulled out from vulnerable beach resorts, workers rushed to protect coffee plants and other crops, and plans were under way to distribute food and cooking oil to disaster areas.

"There's no fear here, but one has to be prepared. It could hit us pretty hard," said Ramon Olivera, gassing up his motorcycle in Camaguey, where municipal workers boarded up banks and restaurants before heavy rain started falling.

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