Ike looms as trouble for Gulf

2008-09-07 18:06

Key West - Powerful Hurricane Ike rolled down an uncertain path on Sunday that may lead to the US Gulf Coast late this week, forcing emergency officials to pay attention and leaving millions of people from Florida to Mexico to wonder where it will eventually strike.

Officials in the Florida Keys started a phased evacuation for residents on Sunday morning after telling visitors a day earlier to get out.

Ike, a dangerous Category 4 storm with winds early on Sunday of near 217km/h, was forecast to affect the Keys starting Monday night on a potential track for the central Gulf.

Ike roared across the low-lying Turks and Caicos island chain before dawn on Sunday as people in the British territory sought refuge in emergency shelters or in their homes.

At 08:00 EDT (12:00 GMT), the National Hurricane Centre in Miami said Ike's eye was just east of Great Inagua Island in the Bahamas.

It was moving west about 22km/h on a path that would take it near or over eastern Cuba on Sunday night and central Cuba late on Monday.

"These storms have a mind of their own," Florida Governor Charlie Crist said after a meeting on Saturday with mayors and emergency officials.

"There are no rules, so what we have to do is be prepared, be smart, vigilant and alert."

Still struggling from Hanna

In Haiti, authorities tried to move thousands of people into shelters ahead of Ike while still struggling to recover from a drenching from Tropical Storm Hanna.

Rescue workers feared Hanna's death toll could rise into the hundreds in the flooded city of Gonaives if Ike dumped more rain from outer storm bands as the storm rumbled nearby.

In Louisiana, still recovering from last week's Hurricane Gustav, Governor Bobby Jindal set up a task force to prepare for the possibility of more 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 on a 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".

- AP