A hotel security guard watches from a stairwell, as high winds from nearby Hurricane Gustav kick up waves, threatening a storm surge, on Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman Island, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008. Gustav swelled to a fearsome Category 3 hurricane with winds of 120 mph (195 kph) as it shrieked toward Cuba Saturday on a track to hit the U.S. Gulf Coast, three years after Hurricane Katrina.

CAMAGUEY, Cuba (AP) _ Hurricane Ike's winds and massive storm surge ripped apart houses and toppled trees Monday as the deadly storm roared across Cuba toward Havana and its historic but decaying old buildings. Forecasters said it could enter the Gulf of Mexico next, with Louisiana among the likely targets.



More than 770,000 Cubans evacuated to shelters or higher ground ahead of the Category 3 hurricane, which earlier raked the Bahamas and worsened floods in Haiti that have already killed at least 319 people.



"We are preparing for a strong hit," Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage told state television.



On Florida's Key West, tourists and residents alike were ordered to evacuate ahead of Ike's expected arrival Tuesday and a steady stream of traffic filled the lone highway from the island. Ike was forecast to make landfall later between the Florida Panhandle and the Texas coast — with New Orleans once again in the crosshairs.