Hurricane Ike heads for western Cuba

By Jeff Franks

HAVANA (Reuters) - Hurricane Ike blew through the warm Caribbean Sea toward western Cuba and the Gulf of Mexico oilfields on Monday after ripping the eastern side of the island with high winds and torrential rains that left a broad path of destruction.

State-run Cuban media reported widespread damage throughout the eastern provinces and showed videos of toppled trees, destroyed homes, downed power lines and flooded towns, inundated by up to 10 inches (25 cm) of rain, swollen rivers and, along the coast, storm surge.

The Cuban weather service said Ike, which weakened on Monday to a Category 1 storm with 80-mile-per-hour (130-km-per-hour) winds, could regain strength over the 89-degree Fahrenheit (32-Celsius) waters of the Caribbean, but how much would depend on whether it stayed close to the coast or took a more westerly course into the open sea.

"It will have a very powerful fuel there," warned chief forecaster Jose Rubiera, referring to the warm sea.

Forecasts called for Ike to brush along the southern Cuban coast heading northwest on a path similar to that of Hurricane Gustav, which devastated the Isle of Youth and the western province of Pinar del Rio and two days later hit Louisiana on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

It was expected to emerge into the Gulf on Tuesday or Wednesday and regain strength on a path through the heart of the offshore oil fields that produce a quarter of U.S. oil and 15 percent of its natural gas.

Energy companies, which shut down most Gulf oil and gas production during Gustav, delayed restarting the flow because of Ike, which was likely to pare inventories in coming weeks. Shell Oil Co and other energy companies said they were evacuating workers from offshore rigs.

The U.S. National Hurricane Centre said the storm was pointed toward eastern Texas, but New Orleans, the city swamped in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina killed 1,500 people and caused $80 billion in damage along the U.S. Gulf Coast, remained a possible target.