Hurricane Oscar made landfall Sunday evening on the northern coast of east Cuba before it weakened to a tropical storm as it moved across the island, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The hurricane made landfall at 5:50 p.m. in the Cuban province of Guantánamo, near the city of Baracoa, the hurricane center said. It was a Category 1 storm at the time, with maximum sustained winds near 80 mph.
By 11 p.m., Oscar had weakened to a tropical storm with winds of 70 mph and higher gusts, according to the hurricane center. It was moving west-southwest at 6 mph.
Oscar was expected to bring heavy rain that was “likely to cause significant flash flooding and mudslides” as it charted its path across the eastern part of the country, the center said.
Even before the storm, Cuba has been almost completely in the dark since Friday following four major grid failures.
The storm was expected to take a turn to the west and northwest Monday and head toward the Bahamas.
“Additional weakening is expected as Oscar interacts with the mountainous terrain of eastern Cuba, but Oscar could still be a tropical storm when it moves north of Cuba late Monday and then moves near the southeastern and central Bahamas on Tuesday,” the hurricane center said late Sunday.
Oscar, which the National Hurricane Center had characterized as “compact but powerful,” formed off the Bahamas on Saturday, prompting a hurricane warning for the north coast of Cuba’s Holguín and Guantánamo provinces, all the way to the easternmost tip of the island, Punta de Maisí.
By the hurricane center’s 11 p.m. update, the Cuban government had changed the hurricane warning to a tropical storm warning for the same area and discontinued its hurricane watch.
A tropical storm warning was also in effect for the southeastern Bahamas, as well as the south coast of Guantánamo, and a tropical storm watch was in effect for the north coast of the province of Camagüey, as well as the central Bahamas.
Rainfall in eastern Cuba is expected to reach 6 to 12 inches with up to 18 inches of rain in some places through Wednesday, the center said.
The southeastern Bahamas could get 3 to 5 inches of rain with isolated amounts of 8 inches, and Turks and Caicos may get 2 to 4 inches through Wednesday morning.
Around 1 to 3 feet of storm surge can also be expected along Cuba’s north shore, which will be accompanied by “large and destructive waves” near the coast, the center said.