A man makes his way through a flooded street on the impending arrival of Hurricane Ike in Baracoa, eastern Cuba Sept. 7, 2008. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    HAVANA, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Cuba was on alert Sunday for the impending arrival of Hurricane Ike after the devastating storm killed at least 37 people in Haiti and ripped off rooftops in the southern Bahamas.

    Hundreds of thousands of people in Cuba were evacuated out of the path of the storm to evade its fury.

    Cuba's National TV News said Ike is classified as "extremely dangerous" and it has sustained winds of more than 200 km per hour with even faster gusts.

    Ike will be the second hurricane of great intensity to hit Cuba in less than 10 days. Hurricane Gustav, which was also a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson intensity scale, hit Juventud island and the province of Pinar del Rio eight days ago.

    Describing Hurricane Ike as "very dangerous," local official daily Juventud Rebelde said "Cuba has not seen a similar event since almost 50 years ago."

    The General Staff of the National Civil Defense on Sunday issued a cyclone alert for provinces including Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Holguin, Las Tunas and Camaguey.