Ike has crossed over to the south coast of Cuba, being offshore is now maintaining its strength as a CAT 2 Hurricane. Ike is tracking West along the island chain causing heavy rainfall and devastation. Ike was forecast to hit Havana, where decaying, historic buildings are especially vulnerable, before moving into the Gulf of Mexico and slamming into the United States. As Ike moved further south Florida canceled an evacuation order from the Keys.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center warned that, after passing into the Gulf of Mexico sometime Tuesday night, Ike could make landfall in the U.S. over the weekend near the Texas-Louisiana border, possibly not far from Houston.
By Thursday this could be a massive hurricane impacting the Central/Western shores of the Gulf, with Galveston and Houston at risk as well as numerous oil installations.
Note. Back in the 1800's a hurricane hit Galveston and killed thousands. Galveston at that time was on track to be the dominant city of Texas. A hurricane changed that.
