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Ike slams Turks and Caicos |
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Sunday, 14 September 2008 |
Hurricane Ike on Saturday barged onto the shores of the Turks and Caicos Islands, ripping off roofs and blocking roadways before taking aim at Cuba, which was on Sunday preparing for a direct hit.
Turks and Caicos premier Michael Misick said the powerful category four storm damaged more than 80 percent of the homes on Grand Turk and South Caicos islands. Hundreds lost their roofs and fishermen lost boats as the hurricane's eye passed just south of the small, low-lying islands.
"A lot of people have lost their house, and we will have to see what we can do to accommodate them," said Misick. There were, however, no reports of injuries.
At 11 a.m. Sunday Ike's eye was just east of Great Inagua Island in the southeastern Bahamas, with maximum sustained winds of 135 mph (215 kph). It was moving west at 13 mph (21 kph).
Residents in the Bahamas were hunkering down and hoping for the best as Ike nears the islands. Great Inagua, which is closer to Haiti than to the Bahamian capital of Nassau, is the southernmost island in the Bahamas archipelago with about 1,000 people.
"Everybody is very concerned because of the strength of this one. They want to make sure they survive," administrator Preston Cunningham said after authorities went door-to-door urging residents to seek higher ground. All power was cut as a precaution Sunday morning, and about 135 people took refuge in shelters.
Ike also drenched Haiti which has been hit by three storms in the past few weeks, killing some 200 people and leaving thousands in government shelters.
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