Florida Governor Charles Crist issued a state of emergency in advance of Ike, which is expected to reach the state Sept. 9. Visitors and tourists were urged to leave the Florida Keys this morning with a phased-in evacuation of residents, said Monroe County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Becky Herrin. About 78,000 people live in the area.

``Large swells generated by Ike will affect portions of the southeast U.S. coast during the next couple of days,'' the center said. ``These waves could generate dangerous and life-threatening rip currents.''

Florida was forced to begin releasing water from Lake Okeechobee, the state's largest body of fresh water, after Tropical Storm Fay dropped 2 feet (61 centimeters) of rain on central Florida last month. That raised the lake's level to 14 feet, putting pressure on a 75-year-old earthen dike keeping the water in.

The Keys and the very southeastern tip of Florida could definitely see some squally-type weather as the storm passes, but that all depends on the track,'' Chuck Caracozza, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami, in a telephone interview.

The state was spared from a direct strike by Hurricane Gustav, which passed over the western tip of Cuba on its way into the Gulf of Mexico where it eventually made landfall on Sept. 1. New Orleans too got a reprieve from Gustav, three years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.

Tropical storm warnings were discontinued as Hanna weakened after racing up the East Coast yesterday at speeds of as much as 28 mph and moved into New England.

The storm delayed the completion of the one remaining men's tennis semifinal at the U.S. Open until today, which means Roger Federer will have to wait to find out if he'll face either world No. 1 Rafael Nadal or Scotland's Andy Murray in the final to be played on Sept. 8. The women's final will be played today, according to an announcement by the U.S. Tennis Association.

As many as 600,000 people may need assistance in Haiti, according to the United Nations humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes.

Cuba yesterday urged the U.S. to ease its trade embargo and open private credit lines for food imports into the island to aid relief measures as the island struggles to cope with the damages left in the wake of Gustav, the AFP reported.

Ailing former President Fidel Castro estimated that it would take $3 billion to $4 billion for Cuba to cope with the emergency, the report said, adding that the former leader likened the destruction to that of a nuclear blast.