Ike gives Cuba final punch, moves toward Gulf of Mexico

HAVANA – Hurricane Ike moved into the warm waters of the Gulf and headed toward the U.S. and Mexican coasts Tuesday after bringing down aging buildings in Havana and tearing through western Cuba’s tobacco country.

Forecasters said Ike, which has already killed at least 80 people in the Caribbean, began to strengthen and could become a major Category 3 storm before slamming into Texas, Mexico or western Louisiana this weekend.

State television said some 2.6 million people – nearly a fourth of Cuba’s population – sought refuge from Ike, which killed four people and shredded hundreds of homes as it barreled across the island.

Winds howled and rains lashed the empty streets of Havana as towering waves broke over the seaside Malecon promenade, devoid of the bustling crowds of Havana residents who normally fish and chat by day and drink and socialize at night. Navigation was banned in Havana Bay, its usually placid surface stirred up by white-capped waves.

The heavy rains soaked the buildings of Havana’s picturesque older areas, causing some of the more dilapidated to collapse. Four aging houses on a single block were reduced to rubble when their walls came tumbling down with a loud boom, and work crews labored with heavy machinery in the strong winds to clear the rubble from the street.

Many in the region, where most of Cuba’s famed tobacco is grown, were still without power and water after monstrous Hurricane Gustav struck as a Category 4 storm on Aug. 30. That storm damaged 100,000 homes and caused billions of dollars in damage, but didn’t kill anyone because of massive evacuations.

Cubans evacuated for Ike as well, seeking safety with friends, relatives or at government shelters. Evacuations are not mandatory in Cuba except for pregnant women and small children, but in an authoritarian state, few people ignore the government’s advice.

Out in the Gulf, Ike was expected to strengthen before making landfall.

“When it’s out of Cuba it has the potential to become a lot stronger,” said Felix Garcia, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Late Tuesday night, Ike was located 120 miles west of Havana and moving west-northwest at 9 mph. Maximum sustained winds increased to 80 mph, still at Category 1 level.

Meanwhile Tropical Storm Lowell was off Mexico’s Pacific coast, projected to cut across the Baja California peninsula today or Thursday and emerge over the Gulf of California near the town of Loreto, popular with U.S. tourists. It had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, but was expected to weaken before hitting land.