The cyclone strengthened Ike threatens Cuba and the Bahamas and Hanna hits U.S.
Hurricane Ike which reached the "extremely dangerous" Category 4 on Sunday threatened the Bahamas and headed towards Cuba, while Tropical Storm Hanna, which left over 500 dead in Haiti, impact United States accelerated its course toward the northeast.
Hurricane Ike, much more powerful and qualified category 4 (out of a maximum of 5) threatened the Bahamas and the northeast coast of Cuba, where it could arrive this Sunday night or Monday morning.
At 02h00 GMT, the eye of the storm was located very near the Turks and Caicos Islands, with winds that reached 215 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, NHC.
Faced with the possible arrival of Ike in Cuba, the government said on Saturday hurricane warning for its eastern region to begin evacuations in areas at risk. The provinces of Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Holguin, Las Tunas and Camaguey, the six eastern, "should consider that Ike can affect the country like a hurricane of great intensity so that protective measures to be taken should correspond to these characteristics, "said the Civil Defense (DC).
In Haiti, meanwhile, helped the Blue Helmets in Gonaives on Saturday (north), to evacuate thousands of people face the threat of Hurricane Ike, after which 650,000 were affected by floods Fay, Gustav, Hanna, told AFP an official of civil protection. "They (the soldiers of the UN) are evacuating people to bring them to shelter in the heights with the help of the Haitian police," said Joseph Youdeline, responsible for civil protection.
Meanwhile, a new assessment indicates that more than 600 people died in Haiti because of Hanna, Gustav and Fey. "The balance (Hanna) increases in time hour," told AFP on Saturday a spokesman for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the UN (OCHA) that, "based on information from the government, we in more than 500 dead. "
In Florida, where the cyclone is expected for Tuesday, this is the worst threat since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the most costly natural disaster in the history of the country until it generated Katrina in 2005. "There is still uncertainty with weather forecasts but meteorologists have told us that Ike could threaten Florida on Tuesday," he said on Saturday Charlie Crist, governor of Florida. "The population should remain attentive to television and radio," he said, specifying have signed the declaration of emergency.
For his part, Hanna weakened when playing in the U.S. mainland, but later returned to earn a little strength, with winds of 86 mph, and is expected to be able to remain relatively unchanged in the coming days, although could no longer be a tropical storm on Sunday, the NHC said.
The center warned that Hanna, whose eye was at 02h00 GMT to 145 km south-southwest of New York City, could cause isolated tornadoes in the states of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and New York. Hanna will reach New England in this Sunday morning, according to the NHC.
The storm was expected to produce 100 to 150 mm of rain in northeastern North Carolina since the state of New York. Hanna also could produce huge waves and dangerous with a flood of 30 to 90 cm above normal levels, the NHC said.
The governors of North Carolina and Virginia declared a state of emergency. The governor of South Carolina, Mark Sandord, appealed to evacuate two counties.
