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Tropical Storm Oscar dumps heavy rain on eastern Cuba as it heads towards the Bahamas

CGTN

Tropical Storm Oscar dumped heavy rain across eastern Cuba on Monday after making landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in an area already beleaguered by a massive power outage.

People wait on the street during the third night of a nationwide blackout, Havana, Cuba, October 20, 2024. /CFP
People wait on the street during the third night of a nationwide blackout, Havana, Cuba, October 20, 2024. /CFP

People wait on the street during the third night of a nationwide blackout, Havana, Cuba, October 20, 2024. /CFP

Its maximum sustained winds reached 65 kilometers per hour on Monday as Oscar moved north-northwest at 11 kph. The storm was located about 130 kilometers northwest of Guantanamo, Cuba, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami reported.

Up to 36 centimeters of rain were forecast across eastern Cuba, with isolated amounts of up to around 50 cm.

"The main concern is just very heavy rainfall that's occurring over portions of eastern Cuba right now that are likely producing significant flooding and even potentially some mudslides in that area," said Philippe Papin, a hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center.

Oscar is the smallest hurricane on record, with a wind field of only about 10 km across, according to hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry.

He noted that not a single forecast model indicated that Oscar might strengthen into a hurricane on Saturday before making landfall in the Bahamas. "It's not often we see a colossal failure in hurricane forecasting," he wrote in an analysis published on Monday.

Oscar made landfall in the eastern Cuban province of Guantanamo, near the city of Baracoa, on Sunday evening with winds of 120 kph. The storm had also made landfall on Saturday on Great Inagua in the Bahamas, where residents were evacuated after their homes were damaged.

Rain and flooding in low-lying areas were reported in Cuba's eastern provinces. Cuban media reported 2-meter swells hitting the coast and that roofs and walls in Baracoa had been damaged.

The storm is expected to emerge off Cuba's northern coast late on Monday and move near the southeastern and central Bahamas on Tuesday, U.S. forecasters said.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for the north coast of the Cuban provinces of Las Tunas, Holguin and Guantanamo to Punta Maisi; for the south coast of Guantanamo province; and for the southeastern Bahamas. A warning was also in effect for the central Bahamas.

Cuba suffered an island-wide power blackout on Friday. Some electrical service was restored on Saturday, but most residents remain without power. The country's energy minister expressed hope that the grid could be restored by Monday or Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Kristy formed off Mexico's southern Pacific coast on Monday, but it was not expected to pose a threat to land. The storm was located 440 km south-southwest of Mexico's Acapulco and was moving west at 28 kph. It had sustained winds of 65 kph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Kristy was forecast to strengthen into a hurricane on Wednesday but continue moving over open waters.

(Cover: This handout satellite image taken on October 20, 2024, courtesy of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/GOES shows hurricane Oscar approaching the east of Cuba. /CFP)

Source(s): AP
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