Authorities in Texas were debating Wednesday whether to issue any evacuation orders as Hurricane Ike headed towards the state from Cuba, where it wreaked havoc. Ike is currently a Category 1 storm, but forecasters said it could strengthen to a Category 3 storm as it travels across the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, headed towards either Texas or northern Mexico. The storm has killed at least 80 people in the Caribbean, and Texas has 7,500 National Guard members on standby ahead of Ike's predicted Saturday landfall. The U.S. Federal Emergency Management agency said it was still undecided on the need for and timing of any coastal evacuations. In Cuba, state television reported that 2.6 million people were forced to move in order to seek shelter from the storm. Four people on the island were killed and power was out in parts of the country.
