Hurricane Ike Crosses Northeast Cuba After Landfall

By Aaron Sheldrick and Demian McLean

Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Ike is crossing Cuba after smashing into the northeast of the country with winds of 205 kilometers (125 miles) per hour, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

The eye of the hurricane was over the province of Los Tunas at 2 a.m. Cuba time after making landfall near the town of Punto de Sama late yesterday, according to the center. It's forecast to sweep across the country and move back over water south of the Florida Keys tomorrow.

Cuba, which was hit by Hurricane Gustav last month, evacuated more than 800,000 people from its northeastern coast, Agence France-Presse reported, citing local officials. In Haiti, which is trying to recover from Tropical Storm Hanna last week, the death toll from Ike rose to 47, AFP said, citing Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis.

``The rains from Ike have made it even more difficult for aid workers to get into some of the worst-flooded areas,'' Wesley Charles, the national director of World Vision in Haiti, said in an e-mailed statement. ``People are becoming increasingly desperate.''

In nearby Grand Turk and North Caicos Islands, initial reports show 80 percent of homes suffered damage from Ike, according to Risk Management Solutions Inc., which quantifies risk for insurance companies.

``A number of houses lost their roofs, as well as a prison,'' said Stephen Russell, commander of the National Emergency Management Agency in Nassau, the Bahamas. ``On Great Inagua, many homes also lost roofs and all phone lines are down.''

Ship Dispatched

The British naval vessel HMS Iron Duke was dispatched to assist in relief efforts in the Turks and Caicos Islands, a U.K. overseas territory, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported, citing the ship's captain.

Ike is a Category 3 storm, the third-highest on the five- step Saffir-Simpson scale. The storm's winds slowed to 195 kph after landfall, the U.S. weather center said. Ike, which was moving west at 20 kph, is expected to weaken as it crosses Cuba.

The storm may dump as much as 51 centimeters (20 inches) of rain on parts of Cuba, the U.S. hurricane center said.

Ike brought more rain to Haiti, which was hit by Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Fay last month before Hanna swept through last week.

Death Toll

The death toll from the four storms has risen to at least 600 in Haiti, AFP said. As many as 600,000 people may need assistance in Haiti, the United Nations humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes said.

Cuba yesterday urged the U.S. to ease its trade embargo and open private credit lines for food imports into the island in the wake of Gustav, AFP reported.

President George W. Bush yesterday declared a state of emergency for Florida, authorizing at least $5 million in aid and the help of federal disaster officials, the White House said. Officials yesterday urged the 80,000 residents of the Keys to leave for the mainland.

``I haven't evacuated in 15 years'' David Black, 47, a clerk at the Heron House hotel in Key West, said in a phone interview yesterday. ``It's less trouble to just weather the hurricane and if you go to Miami or Orlando, you can get hit by the storm you're running from.''

Oil Production

Ike is forecast to enter the Gulf of Mexico, home to more than a quarter of U.S. oil production, by midweek. Computer models show it reaching the Gulf's center by the end of the week, heading south of Louisiana and moving toward Texas.

Energy producers reported that personnel from 10 rigs and 202 production platforms have been evacuated, the Minerals Management Service said yesterday on its Web site. There are about 717 manned production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Most energy output in the Gulf has been halted since Hurricane Gustav ripped through the area and made landfall in Louisiana on Sept. 1.

Officials in Monroe County, where the Keys are located, urged tourists to leave the islands yesterday, Chuck Mulligan, a spokesman with the Tallahassee-based state Division of Emergency Management, said yesterday.

Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency told reporters in Washington yesterday they had positioned supplies of food and water in the Gulf states and are ready to help.

To contact the reporters on this story: Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo at asheldrick@bloomberg.net; Demian McLean in Washington at dmclean8@bloomberg.net.