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Highlands Today

Ike Threat Likely To Pass Highlands

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Highlands Today Staff and The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 9, 2008

SEBRING - As Hurricane Ike moved west across Cuba Monday afternoon, Highlands County and south Florida residents could let their guard down for this storm.

"It's going south of us; we are out of the cone of doom," Highlands County Emergency Management Director Bill Nichols said Monday morning. "We are monitoring the storm, though.

City, county and district officials met Sunday at 2 p.m. and 5:15 p.m., but took no action.

"We are doing a 'wait and see,'" Nichols said. "We haven't done any local declaration in the county. We haven't initiated any preparedness activities at this point because it looks like we are going to be in the clear on this one."

The predicted path of the hurricane shows a U.S. landfall somewhere along the Gulf Coast at Texas, Louisiana or Mississippi.

Authorities called off evacuation orders for the Florida Keys on Monday as a ferocious Hurricane Ike shifted south over Cuba and appeared on track to miss the low-lying U.S.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center warned that it was still too early to tell where Ike would strike after entering the southeastern Gulf of Mexico by Tuesday night. Gulf Coast communities as far away as Texas were keeping a nervous eye on the storm, especially in Louisiana, where residents are still recovering from Hurricane Gustav.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Ike roared ashore in eastern Cuba Sunday night, slamming into Holguin province at 9:45 p.m. EDT as a dangerous Category 3 storm. The hurricane weakened to a Category 2 storm early Monday as it moved over Cuba, with wind speeds still at about 100 mph.

Ike's winds and massive storm surge ripped apart houses and toppled trees Monday in Cuba as it headed across the country toward Havana and its historic but decaying old buildings. More than 770,000 Cubans evacuated to shelters or higher ground.

Ike tore through Cuba after roaring across the Caribbean, killing at least 58 people in Haiti. Forecasters had the storm track continuing west over Cuba's western coast before taking aim at the Gulf of Mexico.

And once again, New Orleans - still recovering from the weaker-than-expected Hurricane Gustav last week - could be in the crosshairs as Ike winds through its uncertain path.

In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency Sunday for Ike and urged residents to get ready to head north again. He said so-called "hurricane fatigue" should not prevent people from evacuating their homes for the second time in 10 days.

"We are likely going to have to become accustomed to evacuating more frequently than when we were younger," Jindal said.

FAST FACT

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center warned that it was still too early to tell where Ike would strike after entering the southeastern Gulf of Mexico by Tuesday night. Gulf Coast communities as far away as Texas were keeping a nervous eye on the storm, especially in Louisiana, where residents are still recovering from Hurricane Gustav.

Marc Valero can be reached at 386-5826 or mvalero@highlandstoday.com

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