Hurricane Rafael began lashing Cuba’s south shore as a Category 3 cyclone, according to the United States National Weather Service, packing sustained winds of 185km/h (115mph), as the Cuban government announced a nationwide blackout.
The hurricane was located about 135km (85 miles) south of Cuba’s capital Havana at 1pm, and just to the east of Cuba’s Isle of Youth, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Wednesday.
NHC warned of a “life-threatening storm surge, damaging hurricane-force winds and flash flooding” across much of western Cuba. The storm has also forced widespread evacuations of tourists and residents.
The farm provinces of Artemisa and Pinar del Rio were expected to take a near direct hit as Rafael made landfall on the Caribbean island.
Forecasters said Havana would see tropical storm force winds and heavy rain before nightfall.
Earlier on Wednesday, NHC announced that Hurricane Rafael had intensified into a powerful Category 3 hurricane.
It was another stroke of bad news for Cuba, which has been struggling with blackouts while recovering from Hurricane Oscar, which killed at least six people two weeks ago in the eastern part of the island.
Rafael also exacerbated the island’s acute energy crisis, which has led to work stoppages and prolonged power outages in recent weeks due to decrepit infrastructure and a lack of fuel for Cuba’s oil-fired power stations.
Cuba’s national power company announced a nationwide power outage on Wednesday afternoon, the third time the system has collapsed in the last couple of weeks.
“Strong winds caused by the major Hurricane Rafael caused the shutdown of the national electricity system,” the Union Electrica company wrote on X.
Hurricane #Rafael Advisory 12A: Rafael Becomes a Category Three Hurricane as it Nears the Coast of Western Cuba. Expected to Bring Life-Threatening Storm Surge, Damaging Hurricane-Force Winds, and Flash Flooding to Portions of Western Cuba. https://t.co/tW4KeGe9uJ
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) November 6, 2024
Cuba’s ruling Communist Party earlier said the eye of Rafael was expected to pass about 50km (30 miles) west of the capital, Havana, affecting farming communities and valuable tobacco crops used to make cigars, one of the island’s top exports.
Rafael was expected to slam into Cuba on Wednesday evening after dumping rain on Jamaica and the Cayman Islands on Tuesday. The NHC warned of floods, storm surges and mudslides.
Forecasters expected the storm to later weaken over Cuba, but emerge on the southeastern Gulf of Mexico still as a hurricane. It is expected to lose steam before reaching the Gulf coast somewhere in the area of the US-Mexico border at the weekend.
The US Department of State issued an advisory for Cuba on Tuesday afternoon, offering departure flights to nonessential staff and American citizens and advising others to “reconsider travel to Cuba due to the potential impact” of Rafael.
Also on Tuesday, the Cuban Civil Defence called on citizens to prepare as soon as possible because when the storm makes landfall, “it’s important to stay where you are.”
A hurricane warning was in effect on Tuesday for a portion of the Cayman Islands and the Cuban provinces of Pinar del Rio, Artemisa, La Habana, Mayabeque, Matanzas and the Isle of Youth.
Warnings were lifted in Jamaica after the storm passed by the western coast.
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 on Tuesday that impassable roads were preventing crews from restoring power in some areas.
Rafael is the 17th named storm of the season.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted the 2024 hurricane season was likely to be well above average with 17 to 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.
Rafael is the 11th hurricane to form this year with five becoming major Category 3 storms with maximum sustained winds of 178km/h (111mph) or more.
