Caribbean lashed by Hurricane Ike
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Monday, September 08, 2008
Thousands of people have taken refuge across the Caribbean as one of the season's fiercest hurricanes barrels across the islands, on course for Cuba.
At least 37 people were reported dead in Haiti as torrential rains fell on already flooded parts of the country.
The Turks and Caicos prime minister was quoted as saying that 80% of homes on the main islands had been damaged.
The storm has hammered the region with winds up to 135mph (215km/h) and is due to hit the Cuban coast on Sunday night.
At 2100 GMT, the centre of the hurricane was about 75 miles east of Cuba, moving at about 14mph (22km/h) towards the island, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).
It has weakened slightly, from Category Four to Three, but the NHC said it was still potentially very dangerous.
Thousands of tourists and residents left the normally tranquil Turks and Caicos islands as the storm closed in, but hundreds more sought refuge there - some in shelters, others in closets and under stairwells.
The British Red Cross hopes to provide relief to people in the Turks and Caicos islands - a UK overseas territory - and in the wider region, by providing a supply plane, more shelters, hygiene kits, food, clothing and bedding.