Washington - Residents of the Caribbean Turks and Caicos islands began surveying damage on Sunday following the devastating impact of Hurricane Ike, as the "extremely dangerous" category 4 storm continued on its path toward Cuba and Florida Keys.

At 8 a.m. (1300 GMT) Ike had winds of over 215 kilometres per hour, just east of Grand Inagua in the Bahamas.

Residents of Turks and Caicos islands said on Sunday that the worst there had passed, but the damage looked "pretty huge."

Speaking to US news channel CNN, Audley Astwood, a reporter at a radio station on Grand Turk island said that "it looks very dismal outside."

Washington - Residents of the Caribbean Turks and Caicos islands began surveying damage on Sunday following the devastating impact of Hurricane Ike, as the "extremely dangerous" category 4 storm continued on its path toward the Bahamas and Florida Keys.

At 8 a.m. (1300 GMT) Ike had winds of over 215 kilometres per hour, just east of Grand Inagua in the Bahamas.

Residents of Turks and Caicos islands said on Sunday that the worst there had passed, but the damage looked "pretty huge."

Speaking to US news channel CNN, Audley Astwood, a reporter at a radio station on Grand Turk island said that "it looks very dismal outside."

Washington - Tourists and residents of the Caribbean Islands of Turks and Caicos were making plans Saturday to evacuate as Hurricane Ike approached.

The Miami-based US National Hurricane Centre warned that the "core of dangerous Hurricane Ike" was approaching the islands and said "preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion."

A hurricane warning was also in place for the Bahamas and parts of Cuba, while a tropical storm alert was sounded for the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Port-au-Prince - The United Nations handed out food and water to desperate Haitians on Friday after the first shipload of aid arrived in the flooded and devastated city of Gonaives.

At least 163 people have died in Haiti as a result of Tropical Storm Hanna, officials said Friday, as it sped toward the south-eastern US coast.

Of the confirmed deaths, 119 in the region around Gonaives, Marie-Alta Jean Baptiste, head of civil protection in Haiti, said Friday night.

Mexico City - Tropical Storm Hanna pounded the north coast of Haiti, leaving at least 61 people dead, officials reported.

In the flooded city of Gonaives, 27 people died in Wednesday's storm, the Haitian civil defence said as Hanna moved toward the south-eastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

In the past three weeks, Haiti was also battered by Hurricanes Fay and Gustav, which left more than 160 dead.

The UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti carried out helicopter rescues in Gonaives, saving many lives, as the water levels were as high as 3 metres in some areas.

Officials said thousands of people were left homeless or with damaged dwellings after the storm.

Mexico City - After being battered by Hurricane Gustav the Caribbean is now being hit by tropical storm Hanna, which left at least 19 dead in Haiti on Tuesday, according to local media.

Hanna, which has been nearly stationary for the past few hours, dumped rain and blasted winds at Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.

Ten people drowned as the storm flooded Haiti's third-largest city, Gonaives, 152 kilometres north of Port-au-Prince, where water levels reached 3 metres in some areas, reported Mayor Stephen Moise to the Haiti news agency.

President René Preval asked for international help for the 300,000 residents of the city that is completely cut off.