"Maximum sustained winds are near 105 miles (165 kilometers) per hour with higher gusts. Ike is a Category Two hurricane on the (five level) Saffir-Simpson scale," the US National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory. It previously had graded the storm a category three.

The center said further weakening of the storm was possible while it was over dry land.

The hurricane made landfall at Punta Lucrecia late Sunday, the head of Cuba's meteorological service, Jose Rubiera, told state television.