MIAMI — Hurricane Oscar has made landfall in eastern Cuba, an island beleaguered by a massive power outage, after striking the southeastern Bahamas earlier in the day Sunday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
The center in Miami said the storm’s center arrived in the Cuban province of Guantanamo, near the city of Baracoa, on Sunday evening. Its maximum sustained winds were near 80 mph (130 kph).
Forecasters said five to 10 inches of rain are expected across eastern Cuba through Tuesday, with some isolated locations getting up to 15 inches.
Oscar made landfall on Great Inagua island in the Bahamas earlier Sunday. It is expected to produce a dangerous storm surge that could translate into significant coastal flooding there and in other areas of the southeastern Bahamas. Two to four inches of rainfall were expected, with isolated areas seeing up to six inches.
The storm’s center was located about 5 miles (10 kilometers) east-southeast of Baracoa, or about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east-northeast of Guantanamo. It was heading west-southwest at 7 mph (11 kph).
The hurricane's arrival comes as Cuba tries to recover from its worst blackout in at least two years, which left millions without power for two days last week. Some electrical service was restored Saturday.
Philippe Papin of the National Hurricane Center said it was somewhat unexpected that Oscar became a hurricane Saturday.
“Unfortunately the system kind of snuck up a little bit on us,” Papin said.
Hours earlier Tropical Storm Nadine formed off Mexico’s southern Caribbean coast. It degenerated into a tropical depression as it moved over land.