Ike raises fears from Caribbean to the Gulf
Huge, 135-mph storm could threaten millions
Preparations stretched more than 1,000 miles as the massive, 135-mph storm took a southwesterly shift that could send it over Cuba and the Florida Keys by Tuesday before heading into the warm open waters of the Gulf of Mexico. And once again, a possible target was New Orleans and the already storm-weary U.S. Gulf Coast.
"These storms have a mind of their own," Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said after a meeting with mayors and emergency officials. "There are no rules, so what we have to do is be prepared, be smart, vigilant and alert."
First in Ike's path was the low-lying British territory of Turks and Caicos, already pummeled for four days this week by Tropical Storm Hanna. At the airport in Providenciales, Patrick Munroe had hoped to catch a departing flight, but was turned away, even before the airport shuttered.
"It looks really, really serious," he said. "And I think it's going to be devastating."
Hanna did not pack the same punch Saturday while racing up the U.S. Eastern seaboard, but it did cause one death in a traffic accident on Interstate 95 in Maryland. It also brought fits of wind and pelting rain all along its trek toward New England.
But Ike is another matter.
Tens of millions of people in countries spread over a swath of the hurricane zone monitored the trajectory of a storm that had a huge footprint, with tropical storm-force winds stretching up to 140 miles from its eye.
At 8 p.m. EDT, Ike's center was located about 60 miles east of Grand Turk Island as the storm moved west-southwest at about 15 mph, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
The center said Ike remained a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of about 135 mph and gusts even higher.
Center meteorologist Colin McAdie said the core of Ike was expected to pass "near or over" the Turks and Caicos soon and begin to affect the southeastern Bahamas overnight.
"It's a very dangerous storm," McAdie told The Associated Press from Miami. He added all indications were that Ike would remain a powerful storm.
"There's going to be some ups and downs, but we expect it to remain a major hurricane over the next couple days," he added.
You can be the first to comment on this story.