In the seaside town of Baracoa, in Guantanamo province, Ike hit the sea wall hard and caused mudslides that blocked a major road into the town.
Dennys Rodríguez Guilarte, 44, who runs a Baracoa guest house, said homes around the town's sea wall suffered most from winds and the storm surge.
"The sea wall is completely destroyed," he said by phone. "The winds pushed the sea onto the people who live there."
He said about 1,000 homes had serious damages, but he knew of no deaths.
"Now there's a hurricane of people trying to recover everything from the debris," said Rodríguez, who described himself as an expert in electrical medicine.
He did not have problems at his guest house, six blocks from the sea wall, because it was on higher ground.
Mudslides and flooding have blocked La Farola, the main road between Baracoa and Guantanamo. The armed forces had arrived this morning with some equipment and rebuilding materials like cement, Rodríguez said.
An Irish woman and Dutch man were staying at his house during the storm, and since Ike they have joined the recovery efforts, he added.
Verónica Bravo, who answered the phone at the guest house, said the strength of the storm had been frightening.
"I feel a little scared by what has happened," she said. "It was too ugly, too horrible."
PATRICIA MAZZEI, The Miami Herald
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