begin quote from:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-rafael-forecast-path-maps-expected-landfall-cuba/
Hurricane Rafael makes landfall over Cuba as Category 3 storm
Hurricane Rafael grew into a Category 3 storm Wednesday afternoon as it swirled past the Cayman Islands on its way toward western Cuba, making landfall in the province of Artemisa just east of Playa Majana. The hurricane made landfall at 4:15 p.m. with maximum sustained winds near 115 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.
Rafael was forecast to intensify further, the National Hurricane Center said. Its imminent arrival signaled another stroke of bad news for Cuba, which has 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.
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 hurricane center warned of life-threatening storm surge, damaging hurricane-force winds and flash flooding for western portions of Cuba on Wednesday.
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.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment