Hurricane Ike appears to be heading well away from Vero Beach

Once again this busy hurricane season, Vero Beach and the east coast of Florida appear to have dodged a bullet -- or in this case, more of an artillery shell -- named Hurricane Ike.

By Saturday night, it was becoming increasingly clear that Ike -- which two days ago was on a course that hurricane forecasters feared might well bring it in our direction -- is going to focus its wrath instead on Cuba before moving into the Gulf of Mexico.

While we obviously wish no one ill from these horrific storms, we once again breathe a sigh of relief that our community apparently is going to be spared.

For the bad news is that Ike, which had lost some of its organization Friday and saw its winds decrease to Category 2 levels, roared back to Category 4 strength on Saturday with sustained winds of 135 mph.

Forecasters now believe Ike will strike the northeast coast of Cuba with sustained winds of 145, and then make its way across much of the island.

While Cuba's rugged mountains could weaken Ike, leaving it only a Category 1 storm when it emerges back into the Gulf of Mexico, forecasters say it likely will restrengthen to at least a Category 3 as it moves across the warm waters toward the U.S. gulf coast.

It's ultimate destination at this point remains unclear.

As we mentioned in our earlier story, we do not propose to run alarmist daily hurricane stories, and we will only provide hurricane coverage when the Vero barrier island really does appear directly threatened by one of these monstrous storms.