|
Havana: A weakened Hurricane Ike swept toward western Cuba early on Tuesday after it ripped a swath of destruction and killed four people on the eastern end of the island, and is expected to strengthen as it aims for Gulf of Mexico oil fields.
With top sustained winds of 130km/h, Ike had fallen to a category one storm after it blew into the Caribbean Sea and hugged the Cuban coast.
State-run Cuban media reported widespread damage throughout the eastern provinces and showed videos of toppled trees, destroyed homes, downed power lines and flooded towns, inundated by up to 25cm of rain, swollen rivers and, along the coast, a surging sea.
Cuban television said four people died in the storm, including two men who were electrocuted when they tried to take down an antenna that fell into an electric line, a woman killed when her house collapsed and a man crushed when a tree blew over onto his home.
Rare
Hurricane deaths are rare in Cuba where the government conducts mass evacuations.
The Cuban weather service said Ike was unlikely to regain strength before coming ashore unless it moved away from land, where the 32C waters of the Caribbean could fire it up.
Forecasts called for Ike to take a path similar to that of Hurricane Gustav, which devastated the Isle of Youth and the western province of Pinar del Rio with 240 kph winds and two days later hit Louisiana on the US Gulf Coast.
It was expected to emerge into the Mexican Gulf on Tuesday and strengthen.
|
