HAVANA -- Hurricane Michelle picked up speed overnight and lashed Cuba's small Isle of Youth early Sunday before taking aim at the main island, and possibly Florida and the Bahamas later.
State television showed winds of up to 60 mph and heavy rains whipping palm trees along a deserted street on the island shortly before the storm passed to the east.
Thousands of the island's 72,000 people had been moved from their homes to more secure shelter, and all electricity on the island had been shut off as a safety measure, Cuban television said.
Packing winds of 135 mph at its center, the storm was projected to hit Cuba's southwestern coast near the Bay of Pigs Sunday afternoon and cross the main island on a course east of Havana. The capital is home to 2 million of Cuba's 11 million citizens.
Michelle, which has killed 12 people in Central America and Jamaica, was not expected to strike Florida directly. But forecasters warned that if the storm turns north, the Florida Keys and South Florida could be pelted with heavy rain and strong wind on Monday. Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency Saturday, and the lower Florida Keys were evacuated.
Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from low-lying areas across Cuba over the past several days. Civil defense authorities on Saturday ordered 150,000 people evacuated in flood-prone areas of Havana alone.
Describing Michelle as ``an extremely dangerous hurricane,'' the National Hurricane Service in Miami said the powerful category 4 storm was about 140 miles south-southwest of Havana at 10 a.m. EST Sunday.
Michelle was about 30 miles east-southeast of the Isle of Youth, spreading winds over that and other smaller islands including the upscale resort of Cayo Coco. It was stirring up waves of 12 to 15 feet.
Michelle picked up speed overnight and by Sunday morning was moving northward at 12 mph. Its hurricane-force winds extended out 45 miles.
Forecasters said a 20-foot storm surge a huge, fast-moving swell of ocean water that could flood a large area was possible on Cuba's southern coast.
``It's a bad one,'' said a Havana vegetable vendor who gave his name only as Tomas, as residents crowded markets and stores to stock up on provisions.
The storm was not expected to strengthen further, the hurricane center said. Michelle's winds were stronger than Hurricane Lili, a category 3 storm that wiped out crops and left thousands homeless in Cuba in 1996.
Hurricanes Andrew, which hit southern Florida in 1992, and Hugo, which struck the southeastern United States in 1989, were both category 4 storms.
The storm's center was expected to skirt Havana and could approach Florida on Monday, said a forecaster at the Miami center, Lixian Avila.
``A small deviation to the left could bring it straight on to Havana, and I sure hope that doesn't happen,'' Avila said.
Such a path, he said, could cause dangerous storm surges of up to 25 feet off Cuba's northern coast at Havana, sending water crashing into neighborhoods facing the city's Malecon sea wall.
The government airline, Cubana de Aviacion, canceled all national and international flights. All transportation to the Isle of Youth, 30 miles off Cuba's southwestern coast, was suspended on Saturday. Fidel Castro's government dedicated a state television station to 24-hour hurricane information.
Havana residents with homes facing the ocean put tape on their windows to keep them from shattering and tied down water tanks on their roofs. There were long lines at gas stations and stores that sell imported food in U.S. dollars as residents stocked up on supplies.
Cuba issued a hurricane warning for most of its western provinces. Officials there evacuated entire villages, hundreds of tourists and 35,500 students from educational farm camps in low-lying areas
On Sunday, the Bahamas government issued a hurricane warning for its northwestern and central islands, including Grand Bahama and New Providence, where the capital, Nassau, is located.
