U.S. residents along the Gulf of Mexico were bracing Tuesday for the impact of Hurricane Ivan, which has killed more than 60 people in the Caribbean, after the storm levelled trees and powerlines and dumped heavy rains on western Cuba. Ivan whipped Cuba Monday with 260-kilometre-per-hour winds, making it one of the most powerful storms to strike the Caribbean in decades. Although it was downgraded Tuesday to a category 4 storm on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale, Ivan continued to be an "extremely dangerous" hurricane with winds of 225 kilometres per hour, the Miami-based National Hurricane Centre said. A hurricane watch was issued Tuesday for a 750-kilometre stretch of U.S. coastline between northwest Florida and Louisiana. Hurricane warnings would likely be required for parts of the coastline later Tuesday, the centre said. Meanwhile, a tropical storm watch remained in effect for the Florida Keys. Officials urged more than 1 million people in the New Orleans, Louisiana, area to evacuate. The hurricane also disrupted oil deliveries from the Gulf of Mexico, and oil prices rose 58 cents to 44.45 dollars per barrel by Tuesday afternoon on the New York Mercantile Exchange. --More 2240 Local Time 1940 GMT
