By Michael Haskins
KEY WEST, Florida (Reuters) - Hurricane Ike charged towardCuba and the Gulf of Mexico as a ferocious storm on Saturdaywhile Tropical Storm Hanna drenched the U.S. Atlantic coastafter barrelling ashore in the Carolinas.
The densely populated Miami-Fort Lauderdale area in southFlorida was not out of the line of fire from Ike, a "major"Category 3 hurricane, and visitors were ordered to flee thevulnerable Florida Keys island chain from Saturday.
"We're not out of the woods by any stretch of theimagination," Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez said.
Computer models indicated Ike was likely to target Cuba asa Category 3 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpsonintensity scale, presenting a severe threat to the crumblingcolonial buildings of Havana and tourist hotels at Varadero.
The storm might then curve into the Gulf of Mexico in thewake of this week's Hurricane Gustav, plowing toward an areathat produces a quarter of domestic U.S. oil, and slammingashore near New Orleans, which was swamped and traumatized byHurricane Katrina three years ago.
The deeper Ike goes into Cuba, the weaker it will be onceit re-emerges over the Gulf of Mexico early next week, the U.S.National Hurricane Center said.
"By day four, Ike is forecast to emerge back over openwaters in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico," the Miami-basedagency said. "Global models suggest the environment will befavourable for strengthening and the ocean should be plentywarm."
Hanna, meanwhile, did not reach hurricane strength beforesloshing ashore between North and South Carolina overnightafter killing 500 people in Haiti through torrential rain.
It was forecast to move rapidly northeast along the EastCoast over the weekend, bringing heavy rains and floods to themid-Atlantic states and southern New England. More than 5inches of rain fell in Raleigh, North Carolina, and a steadydownpour drenched the capital Washington D.C.
"We have been incredibly fortunate," North Carolinaemergency management spokeswoman Jill Lucas said. "We have hadno significant damage. We have had some trees down and localflooding but nothing significant."
POWER OUT FOR THOUSANDS
Almost 60,000 homes lost power at one point, but bymid-afternoon that was down to 39,000, Lucas said.
Hanna was about 55 miles (90 km) north-northwest ofNorfolk, Virginia, by 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) and moving to thenortheast at 25 miles per hour (40 km per hour), the hurricanecentre said. Its top sustained winds had dipped to 50 mph (80kph).
Ike was far more threatening than Hanna as it charted acourse that would take it through the Turks and Caicos islandsand southeastern Bahamas toward eastern Cuba, where it wasexpected to pummel a long stretch of coastline.
Once in the Gulf of Mexico it might find deep warm water toallow it to grow bigger and stronger, although Hurricane Gustavmay have stirred up colder water from the depths beforecrashing into Louisiana on Monday.
Ike was located around 135 miles (215 km) east of GrandTurk Island, and its top sustained winds had climbed back to115 mph (185 kph) after briefly dipping.
Ike had been an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, butwas no longer projected to regain that strength before hittingCuba, which has barely had time to recover from a disastrousCategory 4 blow from Hurricane Gustav a week ago.
Instead, it was likely to strike the communist-ruled islandas a Category 3 hurricane, the hurricane centre said. Category3 and higher storms are known as "major" hurricanes and causethe most damage. Katrina was a Category 3 when it struck nearNew Orleans on August 29, 2005, swamping the city and killing1,500 people on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
South Florida, where up to 1.3 million people could beforced to evacuate, was preparing for Ike. State and localofficials in Miami urged residents not to be complacent.
"We are still recovering as you are aware from TropicalStorm Fay but we must and we will handle any storm that maycome our way," Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said.
In the low-lying Florida Keys, visitors were ordered out onSaturday and residents were told to evacuate on Sunday.
Former Key West Mayor Jimmy Weekley, owner of Fausto'sMarket, said residents appeared more concerned about Ike onFriday.
"Friday we had a run on water," Weekley said. Saturday wasalmost a normal business day, he said. "I think people areseeing the new hurricane track and are not as concerned as theywere yesterday. Our shelves are stocked, and we have a lot offresh fruits and vegetables and canned goods."
John Vagnoni, owner of the Green Parrot Bar, said therewould not be a hurricane party there.
"We don't do a hurricane party, per say, at the Parrot,"Vagnoni said. "Let's take care of our own houses, be safe andthen, afterward, there will be plenty of time to have a party.I'd much rather have a survivors party."
Tropical Storm Josephine, meanwhile, dissipated far out inthe Atlantic, knocking out the weakest of three storms thatfollowed Gustav's rampage through the Caribbean to Louisiana.
(Writing by Michael Christie; Editing by Anthony Boadle)