U.S. declares hurricane watch after Lili batters western Cuba

HAVANA -- Hurricane Lili strengthened as it roared across western Cuba and into the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, forcing thousands from their homes on the island before taking aim at the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Residents in South Louisiana faced their second evacuation in a week as Lili steadily gained strength and speed as it headed their way. Residents will probably evacuate this morning, said Ray Santiny, city councilman from the barrier island of Grand Isle, south of New Orleans.

NASA postponed Wednesday's shuttle launch because of the storm. The space agency said it did not want to take a chance of launching Atlantis from Cape Canaveral, Fla., only to have the hurricane bear down on Houston, home to Mission Control. NASA said Thursday would be the earliest the launch could occur.

Lili was upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane when its winds increased to nearly 100 mph as it whipped across Cuba on Tuesday afternoon. No casualties were reported in Cuba, but the storm earlier killed seven people in Jamaica and St. Vincent.

Gulf Coast hurricane watch

A hurricane watch was declared for the northern U.S. Gulf Coast in Texas to the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana, meaning hurricane conditions were possible within 36 hours. A tropical storm watch was in effect from the Mississippi River to Pascagoula, Miss.

"By the time the storm gets to the United States, it will be stronger and it will pack a bigger storm surge," said Martin Nelson, lead forecaster at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Cuban President Fidel Castro traveled to the western province of Pinar del Rio early Tuesday afternoon to check on civil defense plans as the hurricane roared across the island's southern end. There were no immediate reports of major damage.

105 mph wind speeds

"The hurricane is not done with the Isle of Youth and it is not done with Pinar del Rio," Col. Astul Castellanos of Cuba's civil defense service said. Government television showed images of high winds whipping the leaves of towering palms on the Isle of Youth.

At 8 p.m., the eye of the storm had cleared Cuban territory and was in the Gulf of Mexico, about 90 miles north of the western tip of Cuba at Cabo San Antonio, Cuba, and about 560 miles southeast of New Orleans.

Lili, the fourth hurricane of the Atlantic season, was moving northwest at about 15 mph and its wind speeds had increased slightly, to 105 mph. It could strike the Gulf Coast areas of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi by Thursday or Friday, Nelson said.

Hurricane force winds extended 40 miles and tropical storm force winds another 150 miles.

In New Orleans, authorities were discussing possible evacuation plans while coastal residents boarded up and sandbagged homes, cleaned up debris and stocked up on food and storm supplies.

Before Lili struck western Cuba, fishermen hurried to port to secure their vessels. Officials said nearly 30,000 people fled to government shelters and more than 100,000 took refuge with friends and family members in safer areas.

Some companies were already evacuating employees in the Gulf of Mexico, which was battered last week by a weaker Tropical Storm Isidore.

The Houston-based Apache Corp., an energy producer, said it was evacuating its oil and natural gas producing platforms in Galveston, Texas, and High Island and moving to the east.

It would decide about other facilities in the Gulf of Mexico later in the day. The company has about 160 workers in the area.

Isidore forced energy companies to pull offshore workers and shut in almost 25 billion cubic feet of natural gas and about 4.5 million barrels of oil. The Gulf of Mexico provides about 25 percent of U.S. energy production.

Mexicans also were abandoning homes in the northeastern Yucatan peninsula, where Lili's heavy rains were expected later Tuesday. Isidore damaged 95,000 homes there. The Yucatan coast from Cozumel to Progreso was under tropical storm watch.

Lili grew into a hurricane on Monday and its eye tore across Cayman Brac, uprooting trees and utility poles, knocking out power and tearing roofs from apartment complexes.

In Jamaica, where three people were swept away by flood waters Sunday, blue skies returned Tuesday and workers began clearing debris from blocked roads. As many as 40 homes were destroyed, 120 were flooded, and 750 Jamaicans to refuge in emergency shelters, officials said.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Kyle sent winds gusting over the mid-Atlantic British island of Bermuda, which posted a tropical storm watch. Kyle's winds were nearly 40 mph and it was about 275 miles south-southwest of Bermuda.