Storm headed away from Fla.

  BY MARTIN MERZER AND RENATO PEREZ

  Hurricane Isidore crashed into Cuba's western provinces Friday and stalled there, reportedly destroying buildings and inflicting other serious damage on the agricultural region.

  No word emerged concerning casualties, but forecasters called Isidore's assault ''relentless'' and said it would continue this morning. Then, the hurricane was expected to intensify as it crawled through the Gulf of Mexico -- away from Florida, at least temporarily.

  A large and powerful storm, Isidore pummeled Cuba all day Friday. Residents of the low-lying western area reported 124-mph wind gusts, 18-foot waves and torrential downpours.

  Forecasters said 30 inches of rain could fall before Isidore relinquishes its hold today.

  One resident reported ''people up to their waists in water.'' The National Hurricane Center in West Miami-Dade County relayed unconfirmed accounts of houses swept away by wind and rain.

  ''Many roofs are flying at this time, and some small houses and warehouses have been destroyed,'' a resident of the coastal town of Cortés said in an amateur radio
  transmission monitored at the hurricane center by radio operator José Deschapelles.

  The full extent of the damage was not clear, but other radio transmissions received in Miami spoke of severe inland flooding and power blackouts in the
  tobacco-producing province of Pinar del Río.

  ''They're really getting clobbered,'' said Max Mayfield, the hurricane center's director.

  The perilous eye wall passed over Las Martinas, near Cortés, at 4 p.m. Friday, then lingered over the region for hours. It finally began moving into the Gulf on Friday night.

  More than a quarter-million people were evacuated from the area, most to private homes but about 4,000 to state-run shelters.

  Just before Isidore hit, Cuban leader Fidel Castro said the projected path offered some consolation because the worst of the storm would miss Havana and other densely populated areas. Initial reports mentioned only intermittent rain and light gusts in Havana.

  ''We have had a little luck,'' Castro said. ``The route it is following now will cause the least damage possible, as far as hurricanes go.''

  Meanwhile, the outlook brightened for Floridians and other U.S. residents.

  At least through Monday, Isidore was expected to move slowly west through the Gulf toward Mexico's eastern coast and away from Florida.

  Forecasters lifted a tropical storm watch that had been imposed on the lower Florida Keys. At the same time, the Mexican government issued a tropical storm warning and hurricane watch from Progreso to Tulum on the Yucatán Peninsula, including Cozumel.

  But Isidore's ultimate destination remained uncertain. It could make landfall in Mexico next week, forecasters said, but it also could curve sharply north or even
  northeast toward the U.S. Gulf Coast.

  That could place Florida in jeopardy once again.

  ''I see trouble on the horizon,'' forecaster Lixion Avila said Friday night.

  Experts cautioned Gulf Coast residents from Florida to Mexico to remain alert because Isidore was becoming increasingly dangerous.

  Hurricanes often weaken when confronted by mountains, but the flat terrain of western Cuba offered little resistance and the warm Gulf of Mexico provided plenty of fuel.

  Isidore was expected to intensify into a Category 3 hurricane today, with sustained wind of at least 111 mph. On Monday, it is predicted to become a Category 4
  hurricane, with wind of at least 130 mph.

  In Cuba, the government-run National Information Agency said the cities of Nueva Gerona and Santa Fe on the Isle of Youth suffered extensive damage from 124-mph gusts.

  The government also reported the evacuation of La Bajada, a town in Cape San Antonio on the westernmost tip of Cuba, though residents managed to safely store the tobacco harvest.

  State-run radio and television were broadcasting uninterrupted storm reports. Televised educational programs were suspended. Cubana de Aviación, the national airline, canceled all flights and secured its aircraft.

  In Miami, cruise line schedulers worked frantically to shift itineraries away from Isidore's newly projected path.

  Carnival Corp. revised itineraries on eight ships based in Miami, Tampa, Port Canaveral, New Orleans and Galveston, Texas. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. altered itineraries on five ships. Norwegian Cruise Line substituted a port of call on one of its vessels.

  In the Keys, residents experienced only moderate wind and rain Friday, and emergency managers expressed relief.

  ''We feel much better today,'' said Irene Toner, director of Monroe County's Emergency Operations Center, ``but it doesn't change the fact that we will remain on
  standby status until this thing is really, really away from us.''

  Herald staff writers Jennifer Babson and Ina Paiva Cordle contributed to this report.