Parts of Cuba under hurricane watch; Florida braces

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Tropical Storm Fay had weakened slightly but was reorganizing as it approached eastern Cuba moving westward from Haiti, the National Hurricane Center said Saturday.

Cuba issued hurricane watches for six provinces, and tropical storm watches remained in effect for other Caribbean islands. Officials in Florida were preparing for a possible hit from Fay within days.

Fay was barely clinging to tropical storm status Saturday afternoon, with maximum sustained winds of near 40 mph (65 km/hr) with higher gusts, forecasters said.

However, "strengthening is forecast during the next couple of days, and Fay could be approaching hurricane strength as it nears western Cuba."

A Category 1 hurricane has sustained winds between 74 and 95 mph.

As of 8 p.m. ET Saturday, the center of Fay was about 200 miles (320 km) southeast of Camaguey, Cuba, and about 60 miles (100 km) southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba.

It was moving west at about 14 mph (22 km/hr) and was expected to turn northwest and slow slightly within the next couple of days, the hurricane center said.

According to the forecast track, Fay was expected to deal a glancing blow to eastern Cuba later Saturday night, skirting the coastline of the island nation before coming ashore in western Cuba.

The storm is still forecast to cross the Florida Keys on Monday night, becoming a hurricane before it reaches Florida's Gulf Coast. However, because hurricane movements are erratic, long-range forecasts can vary. See Fay's projected path »

Residents of western Cuba, Florida and the Florida Keys should monitor Fay's progress, the hurricane center said. Various computer models put the storm's long-range track "up the western portion of the Florida Peninsula in a few days," while others place it farther west over the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

Preparations were under way Saturday in Florida, where Gov. Charlie Crist said he had pre-emptively declared a state of emergency with the approach of Fay and partially activated the state emergency management office. Crist urged Floridians to ready themselves for the storm.

Shell Oil Co. said Saturday that it was evacuating 200 people from the Gulf of Mexico as Fay approached.

The government of Cuba issued hurricane watches for for Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Matanzas, Camaguey, Ciego de Avila and Sancti Spiritus provinces, forecasters said. A hurricane watch means conditions are possible within the watch area, generally within 36 hours.

As of Saturday afternoon, the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had seen a few rain bands connected with Fay move through, said Navy Cmdr. Pauline Storum.

The base activated its destructive weather plan, she said, which mainly involves securing loose gear and making sure residents have what they need and personnel are in the right locations.

"The winds are picking up," Storum said. Those on the base expect the conditions to worsen later Saturday, she said, and were warned that Fay could linger for 12 hours.

Tropical storm warnings were issued for Ciego de Avila, Sancti Spiritus, Camaguey, Las Tunas, Holguin, Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo provinces, as well as the southwestern peninsula of Haiti. Tropical storm warnings means tropical storm conditions are expected within 24 hours.

A tropical storm watch remained in effect for the central Bahamas, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, meaning tropical storm conditions were possible within 36 hours.

The storm was expected to dump 4 to 8 inches of rain across Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Similar amounts of rain were expected in Cuba, Jamaica and the northern Cayman Islands, the hurricane center said. Isolated amounts of 15 inches were possible in some areas.

The heavy rains could trigger flooding and mudslides, forecasters warned. Also, tides of up to 3 feet above normal can be expected in the warning areas.

The storm, the sixth of the 2008 Atlantic season, formed Friday over the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean Sea.

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