Ike tears into Turks, on way to Cuba

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) - Hurricane Ike's furious winds, sea surge and intense rains were centered over the Turks and Caicos Islands early Sunday as the Category 4 storm followed a track that should take it to eastern Cuba by Sunday evening.

Ike's destiny, however, could lie on the U.S. Gulf Coast as a major hurricane at the end of the week, according to forecasters with the National Hurricane Center in Miami. "I am a little more confident that in five days there will be a large hurricane in the central Gulf of Mexico," the NHC's latest forecaster discussion said.

At 2 a.m., Ike, with top sustained winds near 135 mph (215 km/hr), was centered over the Turks Islands moving to the west west-southwest at 15 mph (24 km/hr), according to the NHC advisory.

"People are losing roofs by the second," said Audley Astwood, a reporter at a radio station in Grand Turk said. "Close to 50 percent of the homes on Grand Turk have been destroyed or lost roofs."