Monday, 8 September 2008
Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Ike is battering Cuba's northern coast, generating winds of more than 195km/h (120mph), giant waves and torrential rain. Cuban TV has said that some homes along the coast, where hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated, have been damaged beyond repair. Ike killed at least 47 people in Haiti and reportedly damaged 80% of homes on the main Turks and Caicos islands. It weakened to a Category Three storm but remains dangerous. The Cuban Meteorology Institute said the eye of the hurricane came ashore near Punta Lucrecia in the state of Holguin about 510 miles (823km) south-east of Havana. With Hurricane Gustav striking just a week ago, Cuba's internationally acclaimed emergency services are being stretched to the limit, the BBC's Michael Voss reports from Havana. Gustav caused serious damage to the western side of the island, damaging almost 100,000 homes. Read the full story here. Miss M.