Strong winds and rains batter Havana
Hurricane Ike rattled Havana after its second landfall in Cuba but the
eye of the storm has now passed out to sea, Cuban hurricane monitors say.
It destroyed at least 16 buildings in the city but no injuries were
reported and the centre of the storm is now in the Gulf of Mexico.
More than a million people remained in storm-proof shelters on Tuesday.
Four people died in Cuba as a result of the hurricane - the first
storm-related fatalities for several years.
There was also extensive damage to property. One person was killed by a
falling tree, an elderly woman died when her house collapsed and two
others were electrocuted.
State television said almost 1.25 million people had been moved to
shelters - more than one tenth of the island's population.
Louisiana warning
The eye of the storm made its second landfall in Cuba's Pinar del Rio
province, about 55 miles (88km) south-west of Havana, packing sustained
winds of 80mph (130km/h).
Ike first struck in Holguin province, which is home to the nickel mines,
the country's top export earner.
The BBC's Michael Voss in Havana says it is still too early to tell the
full extent of the economic impact wrought by Ike.
Tens of thousands of buildings have been damaged and crops destroyed.
There is also likely to be an impact on the tourist industry, our
correspondent says.
As the storm heads out into the Gulf of Mexico, it is expected to pick
up speed and is projected to reach the US Gulf coast.
Louisiana's governor has warned coastal residents to be prepared to move
inland.
However, the US National Hurricane Center said it was still too early to
tell in which direction Ike would move.
Vulnerable architecture
The United Nations cultural agency, Unesco, has offered to help the
Cuban government make good any damage to heritage sites and important
buildings in Havana.
RECENT MAJOR STORMS
Hurricane Ike: September
Tropical Storm Hanna: September
Hurricane Gustav: August, September
Tropical Storm Fay: August
The agency's director in Havana, Herman van Hooff, said that the latest
storm could be a setback to restoration work.
"Since the [1990s] there has been a very strong management system in
place for the old Havana area, and a lot has been restored since then,"
he told the BBC.
"There is still a lot of fabric, a lot of architecture, a lot of housing
that is in a fragile state, so any impact by a hurricane, be it wind or
rain, is a great concern to everybody."
Cuba is still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Gustav, which hit
just over a week ago, damaging almost 100,000 homes in the west of the
island.
Ike earlier caused 66 deaths in Haiti and reportedly damaged 80% of the
homes in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, has endured the
onslaught of four tropical storms in a three-week period, causing more
than 550 deaths.
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Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/7603319.stm
Published: 2008/09/09 20:02:07 GMT
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