Florida Keys Residents Evacuate As Hurricane Ike Ravages Caribbean

September 7, 2008 11:14 a.m. EST

Miami, Florida (AHN) - Thousands have been forced to flee fearing furious winds, water surge and heavy rains as Hurricane Ike ravages Caribbean and Tropical Storm Hanna batters the U.S. East Coast.

More than 80 percent of homes on Grand Turk and South Caicos islands had been damaged by fierce winds from Ike as it barrels across the islands, on course for Cuba.

Ike, which is an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm, has also led the residents of Florida Keys to evacuate beginning at 8 a.m. Sunday.

According to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), Ike is hammering the southern Bahamas with 135mph (215km/h) winds and it is due to hit the Cuban coast on Sunday night.

Based on the satellite pictures by the center, at 9:00 a.m. GMT, its eye was located around 65 miles (105 kilometers) east of Great Inagua Island in the Bahamas chain.

The center is expecting the storm to pass over Florida into the Gulf of Mexico and head towards Louisiana as early as Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Hanna was located just around the northeastern US state of Massachusetts in the predawn hours of Sunday.

According to the National Weather Service, Hanna poured heavy rains, up to eight inches (20 centimeters), on the U.S. capital Washington on Saturday.