The Texas coastline continues to prepare for Hurricane Ike, which is forecast to blast onshore late Friday night or early Saturday morning. Evacuations along portions of the Texas coast have begun, while much of the oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut in.

The AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center reports that Hurricane Ike continues to reorganize over the Gulf of Mexico after spending two days over Cuba.

The storm strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane Wednesday afternoon, but further strengthening to a destructive, major hurricane is forecast as it passes over warm waters. Ike is being steered toward the Texas Coast by a building area of high pressure over the U.S.

As Ike departs the eastern Gulf of Mexico waters, conditions will slowly improve over the Keys, along the Gulf coast of Florida and western Cuba today.

The South Regional News story reports that surf will increase early this morning along the Gulf Coast as far west as Louisiana.

Ike is forecast to reach at least Category 3 strength as it heads toward landfall on the central coast of Texas, late Friday night or Saturday morning. In waters west of the Texas coast, Ike could become a Category 4 hurricane for a short time.

A tropical storm warning is in effect from the border of Mississippi and Alabama to Cameron, La. A hurricane watch has been issued from Cameron to Port Mansfield, Texas.

Winds on Tuesday gusted to 88 mph at a buoy located 10 miles southwest of Key West, Fla., and 66 mph in Key West. The strong winds uprooted a 10-foot tree and caused some damage to a home's aluminum siding north of Key Largo.

Hurricane Ike continues to grow, both in size and strength. One ship located 130 miles to the northeast of the center of Ike reported sustained winds of 68 mph and seas near 25 feet at 11:00 a.m. EDT, Wednesday.

Ike is scheduled to slam into Texas between Corpus Christi and Galveston late Friday night or early Saturday morning. The next couple of days should be spent preparing homes and businesses for this potentially devastating storm. Residents should not hesitate to leave if told by officials.

All residents along the Texas coastline and northern Mexico should monitor the progress of Ike. The outer effects of the storm will be far-reaching, impacting Houston and Brownsville.

The Southwest Regional News story reports that waves will begin to build across the western gulf today.

Rain and wind will increase across the Texas coastline on Friday as Ike approaches. A flooding storm surge will occur to the north of the eye of the storm, while tornadoes will develop as Ike moves over land.

According to the Associated Press, President George W. Bush declared an emergency in Texas Wednesday. The action authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate relief efforts.

Officials in Texas took early steps on Tuesday in preparing for Ike. Governor Rick Perry ordered the pre-deployment of state resources after issuing a disaster declaration for 88 counties on Monday.

The state has made 1,350 buses available to aid in transportation for what could become the first large-scale evacuation in South Texas history. More than half were sent to San Antonio on Tuesday for inspections. The Associated Press reports that officials in Nueces County started busing people with special medical needs to San Antonio Wednesday.

As of the morning hours Wednesday, there were at least 7,000 Texas National Guard troops on standby, to see where they will be deployed as Ike approaches.

Message signs along highways are being used to urge Texans along the coast to fuel their vehicles. Allison Castle, a spokeswoman for Gov. Perry, told the Associated Press, "the number one thing for residents is make sure they have a full tank of gas and prescriptions" if an evacuation is ordered.

The state's Fuel Team is working to ensure that enough fuel is available along potential evacuation routes, as well as monitoring increases of demand.

The evacuation lane on Interstate 37 from Corpus Christi to San Antonio opened this morning with three lanes of northbound traffic for those leaving the coastal area.

Wednesday morning, officials in Brazoria County, Texas, issued a mandatory evacuation for residents just south of Houston and all people who have special medical needs and were in the forecasted path of Ike. Wednesday afternoon, Matagorda County officials began a mandatory evacuation for residents in coastal areas.

From San Antonio, those fleeing the Corpus Christi area can take Interstate 35 northbound to Dallas. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is prepared for up to 20,000 evacuees, with the downtown convention center being the main shelter.

Federal officials say agents will not check the immigration status of evacuees at evacuation loading zones or inland checkpoints. Authorities are worried that many illegal immigrants will not evacuate out of fear of being arrested or deported.

Ike is expected to make landfall north of the Rio Grande Valley; however, bands of heavy rain and tropical storm-force winds will spread along the valley. Conditions could be much worse in the valley if Ike fails to make a turn to the northwest upon nearing the Texas coast.

Many homes in the valley are still being rebuilt after Hurricane Dolly slammed across South Padre Island and into the Rio Grande Valley on July 23.

As Ike moves inland this weekend, dangerous flooding will become a concern across the southern Plains. Ike is forecast to curve to the north, then to the northeast. The tropical rainstorm will add moisture to the storm system currently moving through the northern Rockies, as well as moisture from Tropical Depression Lowell currently reaching the Baja Peninsula of Mexico.

Ike slammed western Cuba on Tuesday, making a second landfall on the island nation at 10:30 a.m. EDT. Ike moved onshore over the extreme southeastern part of Cuba's province of Pinal del Rio.

Extensive damage was reported in Havana as Ike passed west of the Cuban capital. As of the late afternoon Wednesday, power was still out in the city. Associated Press reports that at least four people were killed and many homes were demolished.

Ike is steering toward a part of the Gulf of Mexico not greatly impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and Dolly earlier this season. As a result, Ike will test oil and natural gas rigs and platforms in the central Texas coast area.

According to the Minerals Management Service, the petroleum industry has stepped up evacuations in the western Gulf of Mexico since Tuesday. As of 1:00 p.m. CDT Wednesday, a total of 452 production platforms or 63 percent of all the manned platforms in the Gulf had been evacuated, up by 300 from the day before. As of the early afternoon Wednesday, approximately 96 percent of the oil production in the Gulf has been shut-in with close to 73 percent of the natural gas production also shut-in.

A small percentage of platforms in the north-central Gulf of Mexico were re-manned in the wake of Gustav, now that is has become clear that Ike is not heading to the Louisiana coast.