Ike slams into Cuba, menaces the Keys

Slightly weakened storm leaves a trail of devastation

Hurricane Ike roared into Cuba on Sunday after destroying houses and crops on low-lying islands, and worsening floods in Haiti that have already killed more than 300 people.

With Ike forecast to sweep the length of Cuba and possibly hit Havana head-on, hundreds of thousands of Cubans evacuated to shelters or higher ground.

To the north, residents of the Florida Keys fled up a narrow highway, fearful that the "extremely dangerous" hurricane could hit them Tuesday.

DAMAGE DONE: Ike's center hit the Bahamas' Great Inagua island, where the roofs of its two shelters both sprung leaks under 135-mph winds.

"It's nasty. I can't remember getting hit like this," reserve police officer Henry Nixon said from inside a shelter holding about 85 people.

Todd Kimberlain, a meteorologist at the U.S. National Hurricane Center, said Ike was expected to remain over Cuba until Tuesday. At 11 p.m. Sunday, Ike was a Category 3 hurricane with top sustained winds of 120 mph.

State television broadcast images of the first damage in Cuba, showing a storm surge washing over coastal homes in the easternmost city of Bayamo.

HEADING WEST: Ike devastated parts of the Turks and Caicos on Saturday night and roared into the Bahamas on Sunday.

Rain drove in horizontal sheets, and wind tore through roofs across the Turks and Caicos.

Premier Michael Misick said more than 80 percent of the homes were damaged on two islands, and people who didn't take refuge in shelters were cowering in closets and under stairwells, "just holding on for life."

U.S. KEEPS CLOSE WATCH: Forecasters predict Ike will weaken some over Cuba, then emerge into the Gulf of Mexico.

Though forecasts suggest the storm is headed into the Gulf, most major storms passing by Ike's position have curved northward. If it gets into the Gulf, it could head anywhere from Texas to the Florida Panhandle.

(McClatchy Newspapers, The Associated Press)