Ike kills 4 in Cuba, takes aim at Mexico, US Gulf

Hurricane Ike roared across Cuba west of the densely populated capital's aging buildings Tuesday after tearing down the length of the island nation, ravaging homes, killing at least four people and forcing 1.2 million to evacuate.

Residents in Texas and northern Mexico braced for a weekend hit from Ike, which has already killed at least 80 people in the Caribbean.

Winds howled and heavy rains fell across Havana, where streets were empty. Towering waves broke over the graceful Malecon seaside promenade, which police had barricaded off the previous evening. Many of the historic apartment buildings along its length are in poor repair and vulnerable to collapse.

Police spread out across the city to halt all but emergency and official traffic. Roadways were strewn with tree branches and rocks, and the rubble from crumbling balconies littered sidewalks. Navigation was banned in Havana Bay, its usually placid surface stirred up by white-capped waves.

Teresa Tejeda, scared to stay in her dilapidated Old Havana home, evacuated with several hundred other elderly people to a government shelter.





Full Story at Associated Press