Hurricane Ike expected to remain fierce storm

Reuters

Salvo, N.C. -- Fierce hurricane Ike weakened as it charged across the Atlantic yesterday and took aim at southern Florida and the oil fields of the Gulf of Mexico while tropical storm Hanna was set to crash ashore in the Carolinas after killing at least 136 people in Haiti. Hanna was expected to be just short of Category 1 hurricane strength when it reaches the U.S. East Coast near the border between North and South Carolina early today, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Ike was far more threatening. An extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane on the five-step Saffir Simpson scale on Thursday, it weakened a notch to Category 3 yesterday while still days away from landfall. The hurricane centre said Ike was expected to remain a "major" storm of Category 3 or higher.