Update: Our Hurricane in Havana - A Few Buildings Topple - "Ike is a Breeze"

HAVANA—Hurricane Ike toppled decrepit buildings in Havana and raked over western Cuba still recovering from the more powerful Gustav as it made a second landfall on the island on a path that may steer it away from the heart of Gulf of Mexico oilfields.

Heavy rains and high winds pounded the Cuban capital as Ike, a borderline Category 1 storm on the five-step hurricane intensity scale with 75 mile per hour winds, passed nearby through the westernmost Pinar del Rio province.

Havana, a city of 2 million people on Cuba's northwest coast, has many beautiful old but crumbling buildings, prone to collapse in heavy weather.

Officials said 16 buildings had fallen Tuesday, but no injuries were reported. About 250,000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas and precarious buildings ahead of Ike.

"It sounds like Havana has been invaded by an army of ghosts," Havana resident Maria Valdez said.

Ike's most likely track would take it to the U.S. coast near the Texas-Mexico border by Saturday -- a path that posed a diminished risk to the bulk of the 4,000 platforms that produce 25 percent of U.S. oil and 15 percent of its natural gas.

Oil futures dipped more than $2 to below $105 as Ike shifted course, but energy companies continued preparations for the storm. BP Plc said it was shutting down all of its Gulf production as it evacuates workers from offshore rigs.

Heavy DamageThe weakened hurricane hit Cuba's southwestern coast after a rampage through eastern provinces that toppled trees, destroyed homes and downed power lines. The capital was littered with trees, foliage and debris as winds howled through the deserted streets.

Ike's damages could be between $3 billion and $4 billion, according to "some official sources," said Elisabeth Byrs of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs at a news briefing in Geneva.

Cuban media said four people had died in the storm. Two men were electrocuted when they tried to take down an antenna that fell into a power line, a woman died when her house collapsed and a man was crushed when a tree toppled onto his home.

Hurricane deaths are rare in Cuba, where the government conducts mass evacuations.

Ike made its second landfall in Cuba at Punta la Capitana in western Pinar del Rio province on Tuesday morning.

Its center was about 65 miles west-southwest of Havana at 2 p.m. EDT and moving west-northwest at 12 mph , the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Officials said 80,000 people had been evacuated in Pinar del Rio, where Hurricane Gustav leveled nearly everything in its path with 150 mph winds 10 days ago before moving on to Louisiana, on the U.S. Gulf coast, two days later. Gustav went ashore near New Orleans, the city swamped by Hurricane Katrina three years ago.

Storm-weary residents of the western province, many still awaiting repair of their shattered homes, said that after Gustav, Ike was a breeze.

"There are strong wind gusts but it's not even a shadow of Gustav," said Juan Carlos Abadia in the town of Candelaria. "We're accustomed to it. This is one disaster after another."

For days, Ike appeared to be aimed at the heart of U.S. energy production near the coast of Louisiana and east Texas. As a result, energy companies, which had shut down most oil and gas output during Gustav, delayed restarting production or began closing it down again.

Although Ike's official long-range track showed it heading toward the Mexican border, a couple of computer models still had it aimed more toward east Texas, closer to where the largest concentration of offshore energy rigs resides.

It was expected to regain Category 3 strength before hitting the coast.

The southward shift eased fears that Ike would threaten New Orleans, still scarred by Katrina, which killed 1,500 people and caused $80 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Here it keeps raining and there are still strong wind gusts. It doesn't seem like Ike wants to leave, and now the river is overflowing," said Evelio Hernandez, a farmer in Camaguey, 330 miles (534 km) southeast of Havana. "In the end, it's all bad news."

"We are going to have to call on our African gods to recover from this," Eduardo Hernandez said from Holguin, 460 miles (743 km) from the Cuban capital.

At least 6,000 people were evacuated on Monday from low-lying areas and crumbling buildings in and around Havana, which was near the projected path for Ike.

"Attention Havana, attention Havana. Havana is on hurricane alert. All residents must strictly follow the instructions of the civil defence," local radio said repeatedly.

Deadly Hurricane Ike roared across Cuba on Monday, blowing homes to rubble and sending waves crashing over apartment buildings. Some 900,000 Cubans evacuated, and forecasters said it could hit Louisiana or Texas this weekend.

Ike, which raked the Bahamas and worsened floods in Haiti that have killed 321 people, made landfall on Cuba as a fearsome category three hurricane, then weakened to a still-potent category-two today as it ran along the length of the island.

There were no immediate reports of deaths in Cuba, despite storm-whipped waves that crashed into five-story apartment buildings, hurling heavy spray over their rooftops, and winds that uprooted trees and toppled utility poles.

By early afternoon, Ike had moved just offshore, giving it fuel to maintain its strength over Cuba, said Felix Garcia, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Centre.

"It's over warm waters," Garcia said.

"It can definitely maintain its strength right now, and when it's out of Cuba it has the potential to become a lot stronger."

Ike was forecast to hit Havana, where decaying, historic buildings are especially vulnerable, before moving into the Gulf of Mexico and slamming into the United States.

The Cuban capital Havana is nervously awaiting the arrival of Hurricane Ike as it moves destructively along the island's east coast. The BBC's Michael Voss, in Havana, told BBC radio that people there are preparing for the worst.

Havana is still waiting for Ike to come, and it could be at least another 24 hours before it gets here.

Cuba is about 1,000km [620 miles] long and Ike has struck at the eastern end of the island, the other end from the capital.

It hit the province of Holguin which has a tourist resort called Guadalavaca. All the tourists there have been evacuated.

State television has shown pictures of giant waves breaking over sea walls, waves as high as apartment blocks, and it is reporting that homes have been damaged.

Even at Category Three, Ike is still considered to be a major hurricane, which means it can be incredibly destructive.

The path that Ike is taking, coming along the coast, makes it one of the most dangerous for the capital Havana.

It is not only the high winds that could destroy some really flimsy 19th-Century housing apart from the historic old town.

With the circular winds, you are going to get the storm surges coming over the wall and flooding Havana as well.

It was very badly flooded by Hurricane Denis in 2005 and they are fearing it could be as bad, if not worse, this time.

People here have been queuing up to buy bread.