Hurricane Ike has moved past Cuba into the Gulf of Mexico and is now poised to take aim at the U.S. and Mexican coasts.
Forecasters say Ike, which has already claimed 80 lives in the Caribbean, could build into a Category 3 storm before making landfall into Texas or Mexico this weekend.
By 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Ike was still a Category 1 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometres per hour.
The storm has already blasted Cuba, tearing down aging buildings and wreaking havoc on tobacco fields on the western coast.
Some 1.2 million people - about a tenth of Cuba's population - fled from the storm, leaving communities, seaside towns and the streets of Havana empty. At least four people died from storm-related accidents and hundreds of homes have been devastated.
UNICEF's Vivianna Limpias said the four died from storm-related accidents. They are the first fatalities in Cuba during this year's hurricane season.
The four dead included two men who were electrocuted, a woman whose house collapsed and a man crushed by a tree that fell on his home.
Limpias said officials expect more drastic long-term effects, however.
"The consequences for the island have been really devastating in terms of houses and harvests, particularly during the world food crisis. This is something that's going to be a real problem in the next month," she told CTV Newsnet from Cuba.
"Some official sources in Cuba estimate the damage is going to amount to between three and four billion dollars."
She said UNICEF is evaluating the state of infrastructure on the island, setting up temporary shelter for those who require it and providing water and sanitation equipment to victims.
Ike has already caused damage in the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas, while further aggravating deadly flooding in Haiti.
At least 58 people died after Ike swept across Haiti on Sunday.
Officials say at least 331 people have been killed after multiple storms hit the country in recent weeks.
On Tuesday, the region's civil protection department said nine more people died in shelters in Gonaives, Haiti.
It was not immediately clear what caused the deaths.
UNICEF's Jasmine Pettenger, speaking from Gonaives Tuesday, said aid workers are focused on delivering aid to those in need as quickly as possible.
She said the situation is complicated because most of the roads and major bridges have been washed out.
As many as 800,000 people need assistance, Pettenger told CTV's Canada AM.
"Water-borne diseases can be a real problem, especially for children who tend to be the most vulnerable," she said.
"We're really making sure that we can get water to the affected people."
As Hurricane Ike nears Mexico, officials worry that some damns, previously tested by heavy rains, could overflow. If Ike brings more rain, evacuations will be needed, officials warn.
Meanwhile Tropical Storm Lowell is swirling off Mexico's Pacific coast, expected to cut across the Baja California Peninsula on Wednesday or Thursday and emerge over the Gulf of California near the tourist town of Loreto. Currently it has sustained winds of 45 mph, but is expected to weaken before hitting land.
