Deadly Hurricane Ike Heading for the Gulf of Mexico
Almost two million people have left their home as an unprecedented second hurricane in a week hits Cuba. 170,000 refugees, approximately 15 per cent of Cuba’s 11 million population evacuated last night from parts of the capitol in Havana, where the storm has yet to hit.
Coming hard on the heels of hurricanes Hanna and Gustav, Ike claimed at least 66 lives as it hit Haiti. But storm deaths are relatively rare in Cuba, where an estimated 140,000 homes were destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Gustav ten days ago.
Ike plowed across the Turks and Caicos and southern Bahamas as a category four at the weekend, causing extensive strutural damage, but no reported deaths there.
Haiti remains the hardest hit as Ike was the fourth major storm to affect the impoverished Caribbean nation in recent weeks leaving hundreds of thousands desperate for food, clean water and shelter.
The hurricane is expected to move over western Cuba before heading to the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday. Gas drillers have already begun the evacuation process, evacuating platforms in the Gulf.
Ike’s is likely to strike north of the border between Texas and Mexico late Friday, or early Saturday morning. It is possible that the hurricane may build strength before moving over western Cuba.
By Karen Loftus
Karen
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