CUBA: Hurricane Ike toppled decrepit buildings in Havana and raked over western Cuba still recovering from the more powerful Gustav as it made a second landfall on the island on a path that may steer it away from the heart of Gulf of Mexico oilfields.
Heavy rains and high winds pounded the Cuban capital as Ike, a borderline category one storm on the five-step hurricane intensity scale with 120km/h (75mph) winds, passed nearby through the westernmost Pinar del Rio province.
Havana, a city of two million on Cuba's northwest coast, has many beautiful old but crumbling buildings, prone to collapse in heavy weather.
Officials said 16 buildings had collapsed yesterday, but no injuries were reported.
Some 250,000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas and precarious buildings ahead of Ike.
"It sounds like Havana has been invaded by an army of ghosts," Havana resident Maria Valdez said.
Ike's most likely track would take it to the US coast near the Texas-Mexico border by Saturday, a path that posed a diminished risk to the bulk of the 4,000 platforms that produce 25 per cent of US oil and 15 per cent of its natural gas.
Oil futures dipped more than $2 to below $105 as Ike shifted course, but energy companies continued preparations for the storm. British Petroleum said it was shutting down all of its Gulf production as it evacuates workers from offshore rigs.
Meanwhile, the weakened hurricane hit Cuba's southwestern coast after a rampage through eastern provinces that toppled trees, destroyed homes and downed power lines. The capital was littered with trees, foliage and debris as winds howled through the deserted streets.
Ike's damages could be between $3 billion (€2.1 billion) and $4 billion, according to "some official sources," said Elisabeth Byrs of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs at a news briefing in Geneva.
Cuban media said four people had died in the storm. Two men were electrocuted when they tried to take down an antenna that fell into a power line, a woman died when her house collapsed and a man was crushed when a tree toppled on to his home.
Ike made its second landfall in Cuba at Punta la Capitana in western Pinar del Rio province yesterday morning. - (Reuters)