Hurricane Rafael made landfall in western Cuba yesterday as a Category 3 storm, with maximum sustained winds near 115 mph. Rafael is the fifth major hurricane of the Atlantic season, which runs from June through November.
The storm appeared to herald a nationwide blackout weeks after the country was hit by Hurricane Oscar and beset by days of power outages (see previous write-up). In the hours leading up to Rafael's landfall, the storm rapidly intensified, gaining 55 mph over 24 hours. Warnings of storm surges, flash flooding, and mudslides were in effect.
Rafael is the strongest storm to impact the northwestern Caribbean this late in the Atlantic hurricane season since 2009. It is set to continue its path in the Gulf of Mexico today and could make landfall in central Louisiana later this week or avoid a US landfall altogether. Track its path here.
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