Hurricane Isidore heads toward western tip of Cuba and Gulf of Mexico

<br>PINAR DEL RIO, Cuba (AP) _ Hurricane Isidore buffeted Cuba's small Isle of Youth with strong winds and drenching rains early Friday, then moved on to the western tip of the main island and the

Friday, September 20th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

PINAR DEL RIO, Cuba (AP) _ Hurricane Isidore buffeted Cuba's small Isle of Youth with strong winds and drenching rains early Friday, then moved on to the western tip of the main island and the Gulf of Mexico.

Cuba's communist government asked tens of thousands of people to move to safer areas, as Isidore strengthened into a category 2 storm early Friday with winds up to 105 mph. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

A tropical storm watch for the lower Florida Keys was lifted, but offshore petroleum companies began evacuating their oil rigs Friday. The Coast Guard advised boaters to be careful as Isidore moved toward the Gulf of Mexico.

Emergency officials from Florida to Louisiana also began preparing for a possible hit early next week, though the hurricane's precise path wasn't clear.

``Anything in the Gulf of Mexico is a potential target in the next six or seven days,'' said James Franklin, hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Cuban President Fidel Castro said his nation had received ``a bit of luck'' after new forecasts showed Isidore passing over Cuba on a route that would cause less damage than had previously been expected.

As the hurricane approached Cuba's southwestern coast, high winds and heavy seas violently rocked 53 boats anchored to the pier in La Coloma, a fishing community near the hurricane's projected path in Pinar del Rio province.

``We're making preparations,'' said Enrique Alvarez a municipal official in La Coloma, about 100 miles west of Havana. ``We have to protect everything.''

Seaports and airports in Havana and across western Cuba were closed as the storm neared.

Because of its westerly track toward the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico issued a tropical storm warning and hurricane watch from Progreso to the Mayan coastal ruins of Tulum on the Yucatan peninsula, including the island of Cozumel.

In and around La Coloma, Cuba, officials evacuated about 340 people from low-lying coastal areas in the region on Thursday, Alvarez said. But townspeople still walked the streets Friday morning, protecting themselves from sporadic rain with yellow rain slickers and large plastic bags.

Isidore, the second Atlantic hurricane of the 2002 season, had hurricane force winds extending outward up to 30 miles. It was expected to maintain its current strengthen and drench Cuba's western half through the weekend with up to 30 inches of rain, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

At 11 a.m. EDT, Hurricane Isidore's center was near the tip of the Isle of Youth, south of the main island, according to Miami hurricane center. It was about 100 miles south-southwest of Havana.

Forecasters said Isidore was moving west-northwest near 8 mph and was expected to stay on that track for another 48 hours, crossing the Cuba's westernmost point before heading into the Gulf of Mexico.

Cuba's state television said Thursday afternoon that more than 38,000 students were sent home as officials closed boarding schools in the western province of Pinar del Rio. Most sought temporary shelter with family or friends.

Lt. Col. Astul Castellanos of Cuba's civil defense program said that about 100,000 people and tens of thousands of farm animals in the island's west were moved to safer ground.

Isidore was far weaker than Hurricane Michelle, a category 4 storm that battered central Cuba in November, causing an estimated $1.8 billion in damage to homes, crops and infrastructure.

Early Thursday, Isidore uprooted trees and flooded low-lying areas in the nearby Cayman Islands. Isidore first passed western Jamaica on Wednesday.

Gustav, which dwindled out in the north Atlantic earlier this month, was the first hurricane of the 2002 season. The 2002 Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and ends Nov. 30.