Hurricane Ike Exits Caribbean, Leaving Trail of Destruction

Hurricane Ike has moved into the Gulf of Mexico after pounding the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, Cuba and Haiti.

In the Bahamas, the storm caused structural damage on the southernmost island of Inagua and lesser damage to the islands of Mayaguana, Acklins and Crooked Island. The major tourist destinations, such as Grand Bahama Island, New Providence Island (Nassau), Abaco, Eleuthera, Bimini, and Andros were outside the storm's path and were relatively unaffected by Ike.

In the Turks and Caicos, Grand Turk suffered major damage in the storm, although the tourism hub of Providenciales escaped with minimal damage. The Cruise Center on Grand Turk was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ike, but the cruise-ship pier was undamaged. Salt Cay and South Caicos also sustained significant wind and water damage.

"We are fortunate the majority of our tourism infrastructure on Providenciales is intact as no resorts, restaurants or other structures have suffered significant damage. Many of our hotel and restaurant partners are expected to reopen this week," according to a statement from the Turks and Caicos Tourism Board. "We are eager to restore normality as soon as possible under the circumstances and look forward to extending the warm hospitality the Turks & Caicos Islands has become synonymous with very shortly."

In Cuba, 2.6 million people were made temporary refugees as Hurricane Ike made landfall twice on the island. Waves smashed over the famous Malecon seawall in Havana, and some of the historic buildings in Old Havana were damaged by the storm. More than 10,000 tourists were evacuated from coastal hotels ahead of the storm, including from the popular Varadero area.

In Haiti, relief efforts continued as the country struggles to recover from a series of storms that have brought massive flooding and killing hundreds of people. Roads have been washed out and the city of Gonaives remains cut off and flooded. The American Red Cross is providing direct assistance to hurricane victims in Haiti: you can donate to help the victims of the storms in the Caribbean at the Red Cross website.

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