Miami, Florida, United States – A hurricane is expected to form in the Caribbean and bring heavy rain and mudslides to Cuba before heading into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, according to the US National Weather Service.
Tropical Storm Rafael is expected to strengthen into a hurricane on Monday as it approaches Jamaica and could also bring heavy rainfall to the Florida Keys and parts of the southeastern US later in the week, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Jamaica and Cuba could have up to 230mm (9 inches) of rain, potentially causing flooding.
The government of Cuba has issued a Hurricane Watch for the capital, Havana, and provinces in eastern Cuba, including Pinar del Rio and Matanzas.
The storm could exacerbate an acute energy crisis in Cuba. Parts of the island have experienced prolonged power outages in recent weeks due to decrepit infrastructure and a lack of fuel for its oil-fired power stations.
Cuba is still recovering from Hurricane Oscar, which made landfall on the eastern end of the island two weeks ago with maximum sustained winds of about 130km/h (80mph).
The new weather system was still only a tropical depression early on Monday and was located about 310km (196 miles) south of Kingston, Jamaica. It had maximum sustained winds of 55km/h (35mph) and was moving north at 15km/h (9mph), the NHC said.
A tropical storm forms when sustained winds reach 63km/h (39mph), and it becomes a hurricane when they reach 119km/h (74mph).
The storm was expected to move near Jamaica late on Monday and is expected to reach hurricane strength before it reaches western Cuba late on Tuesday or early on Wednesday.
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