Powerful Hurricane Ike Looms as Trouble for Gulf

Powerful Hurricane Ike rolled down an uncertain path Sunday that may lead to the U.S. Gulf Coast late this week, forcing emergency officials to pay attention and leaving millions of people from Florida to Mexico to wonder where it will eventually strike.

Turks and Caicos premier Michael Misick said Ike damaged 80 percent of the homes on the main island and that hundreds lost their roofs as the hurricane made a near-direct hit. People have been cowering in closets and under stairwells and "just holding on for life. They got hit really, really bad," he told The Associated Press Sunday morning.

Officials in the Florida Keys started a phased evacuation for residents Sunday morning after telling visitors a day earlier to get out. Ike, a dangerous Category 4 storm with winds early Sunday of near 135 mph, was forecast to affect the Keys starting Monday night on a potential track for the central Gulf.

Ike roared across the low-lying Turks and Caicos island chain before dawn Sunday as people in the British territory sought refuge in emergency shelters or in their homes.

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At 8 a.m. EDT, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Ike's eye was just east of Great Inagua Island in the Bahamas. It was moving west about 14 mph on a path that would take it near or over eastern Cuba Sunday night and central Cuba late Monday.

"These storms have a mind of their own," Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said after a meeting Saturday with mayors and emergency officials. "There are no rules, so what we have to do is be prepared, be smart, vigilant and alert."

Florida Keys officials began resident evacuations on the low-lying chain of islands in phases, starting at the end in Key West by 8 a.m. and continuing throughout the day — at noon for the Middle Keys, and at 4 p.m. for the Upper Keys, including Key Largo. Visitors were told to leave Saturday.

"We do understand the inconvenience of evacuations for Keys residents and visitors, but their safety is our top priority," said Monroe County Administrator Roman Gastesi. "It's just too close to not react to it."

Still, the streets of Key West were practically empty Sunday morning, but not because of the storm — the town stays up late and sleeps late.

Rick Van Leuven, 46, manager of the Rick's and Durty Harry's Entertainment Complex, said everyone is pretty much waiting until Monday to see where the storm will go.