Ike gains strength over Gulf, aims for Texas

The Associated Press

This image provided by NOAA taken Tuesday shows Hurricane Ike in the Gulf of Mexico. At 1 a.m. CDT Wednesday, Ike was about 100 miles north-northeast of Cabo San Antonio on the western tip of Cuba moving toward the west-northwest. AP/NOAA

HAVANA — Hurricane Ike grew stronger as it barreled across the warm, energizing waters of the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday toward the Texas coast after crashing through Cuba’s tobacco country and toppling aging Havana buildings.

Forecasters said the Category 1 storm could grow into a major Category 3 storm before slamming into Texas or northern Mexico on Saturday.

Ike has already killed at least 80 people in the Caribbean, and Texas put 7,500 National Guard members on standby and urged coastal residents to stock up on supplies.

Cuban state television said some 2.6 million people — nearly a fourth of the island’s population — sought refuge from Ike, which killed four people and shredded hundreds of homes as it swept across the country. Power was still spotty in Havana on Wednesday morning.

Ike was centered at latitude 23.9 north, longitude 85.3 west or about 225 miles west-southwest of Key West, Fla., and about 430 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River late Wednesday morning.

It was generally moving northwest at 8 mph. Maximum sustained winds remained near 90 mph, still at Category 1 storm.

Officials at Arkansas and Texas are discussing their options in case Ike affects the Razorbacks-Longhorns game scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Austin. The Texas capital is not in directly in the projected path of the storm, but traffic could be heavy from evacuees, or law enforcement officers may not be available to work the game.

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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