HAVANA - WESTERN Cuba woke up on Sunday to a scene of massive devastation after deadly Hurricane Gustav blasted through with winds gusting up to 340 kilometres per hour, wrecking vulnerable coastal towns and knocking out communications and power.

Thousands of homes on the coast of the westernmost province of Pinar del Rio were left roofless and sea water from the storm surge nearly reached the levels of roofs on homes on the low-lying Isle of Youth, which was hit directly by the massive huricane Saturday afternoon.

There were reports of dozens of injuries but no immediate reports of deaths from the storm, which plowed across the Isle of Youth and then Pinar del Rio province Saturday with sustained top winds of 240 kilometres an hour.

But the entire western part of Cuba, including the 2.2 million people of the capital Havana, was without power, and authorities said it would be some time before electricity could be restored.

'This is pure desolation, a unique experience. We have never seen such a disaster on the Isle of Youth,' a local person told Cuban television.

Around Havana trees and telephone poles lay on the ground.

In Los Palacios on the south coast of Pinar del Rio - the region where much of Cuba's famous tobacco is grown - some 7,000 homes were roofless and many with their walls collapsed, according to the local civil defense chief Emilio Triana.

'There is serious damage across the entire town, in homes and shops. There is a lot of damage in the rice and banana farms,' he added.

The town of Paso Real de San Diego, near to Los Palacios, recorded winds gusting to a record 340 kilometres per hour.

'The town is practically destroyed,' said regional forecaster Yosvani Izquierdo.

Cuba evacuated hundreds of thousands of people in the path of Hurricane Gustav's approach after it left at least 81 dead in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Early on Sunday officials warned people via radio that to remain on guards for the heavy rains and huge swells that continue in the storm's wake.

Air and sea transport remained halted but authorities said communications would slowly be restored beginning Monday. -- AFP