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Ferocious hurricane raises fears from Caribbean to Gulf

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-07 10:11

Hurricane Ike grew to fierce Category 4 strength Saturday as it traced an uncertain path that forced millions along an arc of coastline from the Caribbean to Florida, and Louisiana to Mexico to nervously wonder where it would end up.

Preparations stretched more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers), from normally idyllic island chains through Florida and the US Gulf Coast, where people all too familiar with devastating storms were worrying again as Ike's winds picked up to 135-mph (217-kph) power.

First in Ike's path was the low-lying British territory of Turks and Caicos, already pummeled for four days this week by Tropical Storm Hanna.

In Haiti, authorities tried to move thousands of people into shelters ahead of Ike, while they still struggled to recover from Tropical Storm Hanna. Rescue workers feared Hanna's death toll could rise into the hundreds in the flooded city of Gonaives and that aid efforts could be further impeded as Ike approached.

Hanna did not pack the same punch Saturday while racing up the US Eastern seaboard, but did cause one death in a traffic accident on the Interstate 95 highway in Maryland.

It also brought fits of wind and pelting rain on its trek toward New England. But it did not linger long enough to cause widespread damage, although more than 100,000 people lost power at some point.

Ike is another matter.

Tens of millions of people in countries spread over a stretch of the hurricane zone monitored the Category 4 storm's trajectory. The path shifted from time to time but ultimately seemed to point, once again, to the US Gulf Coast.

At 4 pm EDT, Ike's center was located about 90 miles (145 kilometers) east of Grand Turk Island as the storm moved west-southwest at about 15 mph (24 kph), the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Forecasters said Ike was gaining strength over warm water, its maximum winds increasing to Category 4, 135 mph (217 kph) Saturday, up from a Category 3 storm packing 115-mph (185-kph) winds hours earlier.

Tourists were urged to leave the Bahamas, and authorities in the Dominican Republic began evacuating dozens of families who live on the banks of a river that could flood with waters from two already overfilled dams.

In Cuba, the island's top meteorologist warned Ike was a "true danger" and government officials began the early phases of emergency preparations. But no alarm was evident in Havana, where the US soccer team was set to play Cuba in a World Cup qualifying match.

In Louisiana, still recovering from last week's Hurricane Gustav, Gov. Bobby Jindal set up a task force to prepare for the possibility of a new round of havoc.

"We're not hoping for another strike, another storm, but we're ready," he said.

Even as Gustav evacuees headed home, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said officials were anxiously monitoring Ike's projected path toward the Gulf.

"Our citizens are weary and they're tired and they have spent a lot of money evacuating .. from Gustav," he said. He added that if Ike were to threaten, "my expectations this time is, it will be very difficult to move the kind of numbers out of this city that we moved during Gustav."

In Florida, batteries, water and gas cans became major commodities, as nearly the entire state appeared within the cone of areas that might be hit.

Visitors to the Florida Keys were under a mandatory evacuation order Saturday and a light but steady stream of traffic rolled out of Key West ahead of the storm.

Key West was last seriously affected by a hurricane in 2005, when Category 3 Wilma sped past. The town escaped widespread wind damage, but a storm surge flooded hundreds of homes and some businesses.

With the latest storm still hundreds of miles (kilometers) and days away from the peninsula, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist touched on the uncertainty in meetings with mayors and emergency officials.

"These storms have a mind of their own," he said. "There are no rules, so what we have to do is be prepared, be smart, vigilant and alert."

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Matt Sedensky, Suzette Laboy, Brendan Farrington, Lisa Orkin, Sarah Larimer in Florida; Steve Szkotak in Virginia; Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Ben Fox in Turks and Caicos; Mike Melia in the Bahamas; Anita Snow in Cuba; and Jonathan Katz in Haiti.