Ike may turn deadly, too early to tell say forecasters

MIAMI, Florida- HURRICANE Ike reached category 4 status early Thursday morning (Sept. 4), with forecasters calling it “extremely dangerous” and unpredictable as it slowly spins over the Atlantic.

Having formed as a tropical depression over the mid-Atlantic on September 1, Ike has gained considerable strength in its three day trek toward the Caribbean and now harbours maximum sustained winds of 140 mph. 

As of Thursday morning, the hurricane resided about 525 miles north of the Leeward Islands and was moving in a west-northwest direction at around 16mph.

Forecasters at the United States National Hurricane Center stated that “it is too early to determine what land areas might eventually be affected by Ike, but interests in the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos islands should monitor the progress of this system”.

While the storm is currently projected to make landfall in the Bahamas, Cuba and northern Hispaniola by the end of the weekend, some forecasters believe that the storm may weaken before that time due to cool waters in the southern Bahamas that were stirred up by Tropical Storm Hanna.     ~~Adz:Right~~

Meanwhile, 1600 miles to the east, Tropical Storm Josephine is predicted to continue its path to the west from the coast of Africa, though no strengthening is expected at this time.

The 2008 hurricane season has been particularly destructive with ten named storms to date and an approximate 216 deaths due to storm related destruction and flooding in countries such as Haiti, Jamaica, Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Puerto Rico. 

Governments and statutory agencies are still assessing infrastructural damage on individual islands, a task made more difficult as some islands have been hit by multiple storms within a matter of a few days.