Ike Invades Cuba After Slamming Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Haiti

Hurricane Ike is cutting across Cuba this morning after plowing through the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos with Category 4 winds and bringing more rain and misery to Haiti. Cuban officials evacuated hundreds of thousands of residents from the path of the small but powerful storm -- which has dropped to Category 2 strength but still has winds of 105 mph -- and residents and visitors alike are being evacuated from the Florida Keys in advance of the storm.

In the Turks and Caicos, more than 80 percent of homes were reportedly damaged as Ike whipped across the islands. Initial reports suggest, however, that despite power outages and some flooding the main tourist destination of Providenciales seems to have weathered the storm well.

Dozens more died in Haiti as the battered and impoverished nation weathered its third major storm of the 2008 hurricane season. In the Bahamas, Great Inaugua, the southernmost island in the chain, appeared to have suffered the greatest damage.

In a month full of storms, here's one bit of bright news: the former Tropical Storm Josephine, still in the mid-Atlantic, appears to have run out of gas, and forecasters currently do not expect it to regain strength as a major storm.

National Hurricane Center

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