Hurricane Ike battered northern Cuba overnight with giant waves and torrential rain, but has weakened slightly as it moves over the island.

The Category Two storm's maximum sustained winds are still more than 165km/h (105mph).

Some homes along the coast, where some 800,000 people have been evacuated, have been damaged beyond repair.

Earlier, Ike killed 61 people in Haiti and reportedly damaged 80% of homes on the main Turks and Caicos islands.

The Cuban Meteorology Institute said the eye of the hurricane came ashore near Punta Lucrecia in the state of Holguin about 510 miles (823km) south-east of the capital Havana.

I don't like typhoon, because if it has the typhoon I can't go out to my house. And the typhoon will heart people. it's very bad.