Hurricane Rafael moves away from Cuba after making landfall as Category 3 storm
Hurricane Rafael struck Cuba as Category 3 storm Wednesday after it swirled past the Cayman Islands and made landfall in the province of Artemisa just east of Playa Majana. The hurricane ripped across the island and knocked out the country's power grid.
By 10 p.m. Eastern Time, the storm's center had moved off of western Cuba and was expected to continue northward before turning to the west on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said. It was centered about 80 miles northwest of Havana and 135 miles southwest of Key West, Florida. It was moving northwest at 15 mph.
The hurricane made landfall at 4:15 p.m. with maximum sustained winds near 115 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. By Wednesday night, the storm had weakened somewhat, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph — a Category 2 storm.
On Wednesday evening, massive waves lashed at Havana's shores as sharp winds and rain whipped at the historic cityscape, leaving trees littered on flooded roads. Much of the city was dark and deserted.
Before the storm hit, Cuba had already been struggling with blackouts while recovering from another hurricane two weeks ago that killed at least six people in the eastern part of the island.
Classes and public transport were suspended on parts of the island and authorities canceled flights in and out of Havana and Varadero. Thousands of people in the west of the island were evacuated as a preventative measure, and many more like Silvia Pérez, a 72-year-old retiree living in a coastal area of Havana, scrambled to prepare.
"This is a night I don't want to sleep through, between the battering air and the trees," Pérez told the Associated Press. "I'm scared for my friends and family."
The magnitude of the impact remained unclear, but forecasters warned that Hurricane Rafael could bring "life-threatening" storm surges, winds and flash floods to Cuba after ravaging parts of the Cayman Islands and Jamaica.
After it enters the Gulf of Mexico, Rafael was forecast to turn to the west and maintain its hurricane status into the weekend, CBS News meteorologist Nikki Nolan said earlier Wednesday. Forecasting models suggest it will likely track more and more to the west before either dissipating over the western Gulf, or heading for Mexico. The storm is expected to weaken slightly throughout Wednesday and Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The hurricane center warned of life-threatening storm surge, damaging hurricane-force winds and flash flooding for western portions of Cuba on Wednesday. It said those conditions should subside overnight.
The U.S. State Department issued an advisory for Cuba on Tuesday afternoon, offering departure flights to non-essential staff and American citizens, and advising others to "reconsider travel to Cuba due to the potential impact of Tropical Storm Rafael," before the storm grew into a hurricane.
On Tuesday morning, the Cuban Civil Defense called on Cubans to prepare as soon as possible, because when the storm makes landfall "it's important to stay where you are." The day before, authorities said they had issued an evacuation order for 37,000 people in far eastern Cuba, in the province of Guantanamo, due to bad weather.
Rafael on Tuesday knocked out power in Jamaica and unleashed flooding and landslides.
The Jamaica Public Service, the island's electricity provider, said in a statement late Tuesday that impassable roads were preventing crews from restoring power in some areas.
Meanwhile, crews in Little Cayman and Cayman Brac were expected to fan out early Wednesday to assess damage after a direct hit late Tuesday. Power outages were reported across the Cayman Islands, and schools remained closed on Wednesday.
"While conditions have improved on Grand Cayman, residents are advised to exercise extreme caution on the roads and near coastlines as rough seas and residual flooding risks may persist," the government said in a statement.
Heavy rainfall also was expected to spread north into Florida and nearby areas of the southeast U.S. during the middle to late part of the week. The Hurricane Center predicted storm surges in Florida could reach 1 to 3 feet in Dry Tortugas and 1 to 2 feet in the Lower Florida Keys. A few tornadoes also were expected Wednesday over the Keys and southwestern Florida.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for the lower and middle Florida Keys from Key West to west of the Channel 5 Bridge, along with the Dry Tortugas.
Rafael is the 17th named storm of the season.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted the 2024 hurricane season was likely to be well above average, with between 17 and 25 named storms. The forecast called for as many as 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes.
An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, seven of them hurricanes and three major hurricanes.