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Packing sustained winds near 215 kilometres per hour, powerful Ike was about 145 kilometres east of Grand Turk Island near the southern Bahamas shortly before 2100 GMT, and was expected to barrel into Cuba Sunday or Monday, the Miami-based NHC said in an advisory.

A couple of hours after the orders were announced, Ike strengthened to an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm with winds near 135 mph, said the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. At 8 p.m. ET Saturday, Ike's center was 60 miles east of Grand Turk Island, moving west-southwest at 12 mph.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami says Hurricane Ike has again intensified to a Category 3 storm with winds sustained at 115 mph.Winds had diminished a bit earlier in the day to 110 mph, changing it to a Category 2. The hurricane center says as of 2 p.m. EDT, the winds had again picked up. The storm is expected to strengthen as it approaches Cuba and southern Florida by Monday. Turks and Caicos and the southern Bahamas appeared to be first in line to take a hit from Ike Saturday. A hurricane watch remains in effect for portions of eastern Cuba.

The 4:00 p.m. (local time) update from the National Hurricane Centre in Miami has Hurricane Ike coming only slightly closer to the Cayman Islands than the earlier forecast. The projected impact remains essentially the same at this time - winds of 20-30 mph, which is less than tropical storm force, beginning on Monday afternoon. Hurricane Ike continues to maintain a good forward speed of 15 mph. At this speed, Ike could necessitate a 'Watch' being issued early tomorrow morning, unless there is substantial and favourable change in its projected path. All residents are urged to continue to monitor local media, and to remain prepared to deal with the possibility of an increased threat from this dangerous system.

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