Hurricane Ike roared across low-lying islands yesterday and bore down on Cuba. The storm destroyed homes, swept away boats, and brought more rain to waterlogged communities in Haiti, where it killed 48 people.

Evacuations: Slamming into the southern Bahamas, Ike headed toward Cuba on a path that could hit Havana head-on, and hundreds of thousands evacuated to shelters or higher ground.

To the north, residents of the Florida Keys fled up a narrow highway, fearful that the hurricane could hit them. Yesterday morning, forecasters issued a hurricane watch from Key Largo to Key West, meaning hurricane conditions could hit the area within 36 hours.

Gov. Charlie Crist warned that South Floridians still need to remain vigilant. "Hurricane Ike is a very dangerous storm," Crist said at a briefing in Tallahassee. "All residents should take it seriously."

Base secured: Strong gusts and steady rains fell at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in southeast Cuba, where all ferries were secured and beaches were off limits.

The military said cells containing terrorism detainees -- about 255 men suspected of links to the Taliban and al-Qaida -- are hurricane-proof.

Gulf Coast braces: Where Ike goes after hitting Cuba was hard to predict, leaving millions from Florida to Mexico worrying. In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin prepared for the possibility of more havoc only days after a historic, life-saving evacuation of more than 2 million people from Hurricane Gustav.

Fatalities rise: At least 48 people died as Ike's winds and rain swept Haiti, raising the nation's death toll from four tropical storms in less than a month to 306.

A Dominican man was crushed by a falling tree. It was too early to know of deaths on other islands where the most powerful winds still were blowing.

Winds drop slightly: Late yesterday, Ike's eye moved west from Great Inagua Island in the southeastern Bahamas and weakened slightly to a Category 3 hurricane with top winds of 120 mph. It was moving westward at about 14 mph, about 30 miles off Cuba's northern coast, and was about 75 miles from Guantanamo.

Havana vulnerable: The U.S. National Hurricane Center predicted Ike's eye would strike somewhere along Cuba's northern coast last night and possibly hit Havana, the capital of 2 million people with many vulnerable old buildings, by tonight.

Cuba's government said more than 224,000 people were being evacuated in the central-eastern province of Camaguey. Foreign tourists were pulled out from vulnerable beach resorts, workers rushed to protect coffee plants and other crops, and plans were under way to distribute food and cooking-oil to disaster areas.

Turks and Caicos damage: The first islands to bear Ike's fury were the Turks and Caicos, which have little natural protection from storm surges. Ike's surge was expected to be up to 18 feet.

The British territory's premier, Michael Misick, said more than 80 percent of the homes were damaged on two islands and people who didn't take refuge in shelters were cowering in closets and under stairwells, "just holding on for life."

Threat of rains: Many more Haitian lives were threatened as Ike's downpours topped flooding from Hanna, Gustav and Fay.

The Mirebalais bridge collapsed in the floods, cutting off the last land route into Gonaives, where half the homes already were under water when Ike hit. The latest rains made it even more difficult for aid groups to reach desperate residents.