MIAMI (Reuters) - Hurricane Irene continued its path toward southern Florida, with a likely landfall near Key West Friday morning, the National Hurricane Center reported.

``The system is getting better organized,'' said Hurricane Center Meteorologist Stacy Stewart. ``If the eastern edge of the eye skirts Key West, it puts it on the bad side of the storm, with very heavy rains, strong winds and the possibility of tornadoes.''

Irene's top sustained winds were 75 mph.

At 5 a.m. EDT, the center of Irene was located about 45 miles southwest of Key West at latitude 24.1 north, longitude 82.2 west, according to Stewart. It was moving north at 9 mph.

Hurricane force winds extended out for 30 miles and tropical storm force winds extended out another 140 miles, hitting southern Florida, with warning and watch areas subject to rains as heavy as 15 inches and isolated tornadoes, Stewart said.

A hurricane warning was in effect from south of Florida City on the east coast through the Florida Keys to the Anclote Keys near Tampa on the west coast.

A tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch also was issued from Florida City north to Flagler Beach, north of Daytona on the east coast, an area that includes Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, with nearly 5 million people Florida's most populous area. The hurricane watch on the west coast was extended north to Yankeetown.

At the urging of local emergency managers, tourists cleared out of Key West Thursday but most locals hunkered down to ride out the storm, which was viewed as a less serious threat than last year's Hurricane Georges, which struck the island directly with 100 mph winds.

All warnings in Cuba were discontinued, the National Hurricane Center said.

Irene hit Havana late Thursday afternoon, bringing down hundreds of trees and lamp-posts across streets, flooding low-lying areas, collapsing at least 19 houses, and cutting electricity in most areas.

One Cuban died from electrocution in Havana, while another was swept away in a river in the Mantilla outskirt, according to preliminary reports from local Communist Party officials.

The capital, whose dilapidated architecture is particularly vulnerable to storms, is home to more than two million of Cuba's 11.2 million inhabitants.

Across the whole island, more than 130,000 people were evacuated to emergency shelters, and hundreds of tourists were moved from hotels in the worst-affected coastal areas.

President Fidel Castro, personally supervising the hurricane operation, was presiding over an emergency meeting of Civil Defense and local authority officials at his Revolution Palace late Thursday to assess the damage.

Schools were closed in western and central provinces as ranchers moved 45,000 cattle to high land. Some flights on the island were suspended as a preventive measure.