(September 6, 2008)—Authorities told visitors Saturday morning to leave the Florida Keys as the state braces for a hit from Hurricane Ike, which has weakened slightly, but remains a ferocious storm.
Ike's top winds were clocked Saturday at 110 miles an hour, but forecasters expect the Category 2 storm to strengthen within the next 48 hours into a major hurricane.
They say the storm could be near or over the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas by early Sunday and over eastern Cuba by Monday.
The Turks and Caicos, a low-lying island chain that's a British territory, took a four-day hit from then-Hurricane Hanna earlier this week, which some residents say gave them a new sense of vulnerability.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist says he has signed an emergency declaration to make relief supplies ready if needed.
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