Lili Soaks Cuba, On Path For U.S.

Hurricane Lili continued to strengthen Tuesday as it ravaged Cuba on its way to the U.S. Gulf coast.

Now a Category 2 storm, and expected to strengthen further in the next 24 hours, forecasters have issued a Hurricane Watch for the coast from San Louis Pass, Texas to the mouth of the Mississippi River. A Tropical Storm Watch has been issued for the coast from the mouth of the Mississippi River to Pascagoula, Mississippi.

Lili roared across western Cuba on Tuesday, forcing thousands from their homes as emergency workers across the Caribbean grappled with the damage it left in its wake. The storm killed seven people in Jamaica and St. Vincent.

And As CBS News Correspondent Bobbi Harley reports, rain filled the streets so quickly it stranded people along the Cuban coast, making rescues by the helicopter the only way out. With two hurricanes hitting Cuba in ten days, Cuban authorities haven't been able to estimate the damage Isidore caused before they had to start all over again with Lili -- which took almost the same route causing damage throughout the island.

In New Orleans, authorities were discussing possible evacuation plans while coastal residents boarded up and sandbagged homes, stocked up on food and storm supplies and cleaned up debris from the damage caused last week by Tropical Storm Isidore.

In Dulac, Louisiana,CBS News Correspondent Cynthia Bowers reports that shrimpers are already bringing their boats ashore.

In Grand Isle, a barrier island in southeastern Louisiana, crews patched levees that were damaged when Isidore blew ashore last week. "We're working around the clock right at the moment," said Ray Santiny, a council member.

In New Orleans, officials talked about closing Interstate 10 — a major evacuation route out of the city — if the highway floods, as it did during Isidore.

In Terrebonne and St. Bernard parishes, officials stocked up on sandbags. Both parishes were hit hard by rains from Isidore, which dumped over 20 inches of rain in places.

Texans also were making preparations. The state's Division of Emergency Management raised its alert status to level two — the second highest state of alert — Tuesday morning.

"It's a little bit early to tell that but I think areas there in the northwestern Gulf, say from Houston to New Orleans, should be monitoring the progress of the storm very carefully," said Frank Lepore of the National Hurricane Center.

Isidore, which broke up over the Northeast on Saturday, came ashore Thursday in Louisiana, flooding homes there and in Mississippi, Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and Tennessee. Thousands of homes were damaged, and at least four deaths were blamed on the storm, three in Mississippi and one in Tennessee. Two people were killed in Mexico, where Isidore came ashore as a hurricane.

Mayor Ben Morris of Slidell, northeast of New Orleans near Lake Pontchartain's north shore, called for an emergency cleanup of debris from Isidore so the city will be ready for Lili.

"I can't order anything right now, like evacuations," he said. "But, use common sense. If it looks like it's coming, go visit a relative in Houston or Nashville or somewhere, but get the hell out of here."

Category 2 storms have winds above 96 mph and can rip boats from their moorings and prompt serious flooding and wind damage. Government television showed images of high winds whipping the leaves of towering palms on the Isle of Youth, but authorities said there were no casualties and no immediate reports of major damage.

"Western Cuba will continue to feel heavy rains and strong storm surges until Wednesday," said Martin Nelson, lead forecaster at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. "But by the time the storm gets to the United States, it will be stronger and it will pack a bigger storm surge."

Cuban President Fidel Castro traveled to the western province of Pinar del Rio early Tuesday afternoon to check on civil defense plans as the hurricane roared across the island's southern end.

In western Cuba, fishermen hurried to port to secure their vessels. Officials said nearly 30,000 people fled to government shelters and more than 100,000 took refuge with friends and family members in safer areas. The entire seaside town of La Coloma, with 6,500 residents, was evacuated.

Cubana Airlines halted all flights, and school classes in western Cuba were canceled as Lili's stinging rains began lashing the shore of western Pinar del Rio province.

Two weeks ago, Isidore caused major damage here when it landed as a hurricane, especially to agricultural crops. The lucrative tobacco crop, however, had already been harvested.

Mexicans were abandoning homes in the northeastern Yucatan peninsula, where Lili's heavy rains were expected later Tuesday. Isidore damaged 95,000 homes there. The Yucatan coast from Cozumel to Progreso was under a tropical storm watch.

Lili grew into a hurricane on Monday as its winds topped 74 mph and its eye tore across Cayman Brac, uprooting trees and utility poles, knocking out power and tearing roofs from apartment complexes, legislator Lyndon Martin said in the British territory.

Lili reached the Caribbean last week as a tropical storm, leaving four dead in St. Vincent, damaging 400 homes in Barbados and destroying half of St. Lucia's banana crop.

In Jamaica, where three people were swept away by flood waters Sunday, blue skies returned Tuesday and workers began clearing debris from blocked roads. As many as 40 homes were destroyed.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Kyle sent winds gusting Tuesday over the mid-Atlantic British island of Bermuda, which posted a tropical storm watch. Kyle's winds were nearly 40 mph, and it was about 275 miles south-southwest of Bermuda.