Hurricane Ike is gaining strength as it slowly makes its way into the Gulf of Mexico, on a path toward the southern U.S. state of Texas.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami says Ike's center was in the waters off the coast of western Cuba this Wednesday morning. Forecasters say it was traveling at a speed of 13 kilometers per hour, with maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers an hour.
On its current path, Ike could reach the coast of Texas early Saturday.
Authorities in Texas have begun making preparations. Governor Rick Perry has declared 88 coastal counties disaster areas, and several towns in the region have been told to prepare for a mandatory evacuation.
Oil companies have begun evacuating workers from their offshore drilling platforms.
Forecasters say Ike still is producing strong tropical storm conditions in western Cuba. It could dump as much as 50 centimeters of rain before leaving the area, and could cause life-threatening floods and mudslides.
The storm first made landfall on Cuba on Sunday, killing at least four people and forcing more than one million people to evacuate. Ike struck Cuba again on Tuesday, sending debris flying through the streets and soaking the capital, Havana, with heavy rain.
Ike also caused flooding in Haiti that killed about 70 people, adding to an estimated toll of 500 people killed by storms in recent weeks.
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