The latest hurricane information from the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that the eye of Hurricane Oscar made landfall in Cuba's Guantanamo province, near the city of Baracoa, on the evening of October 20. The strongest sustained winds of Category 1 Hurricane Oscar when it made landfall in Cuba were up to 130 km/h.
Forecasters said that 130-250mm of rain is expected to fall across eastern Cuba through October 22, with some areas receiving as much as 380mm. Hours earlier, Oscar made its first landfall in the southeastern Bahamas.
Hurricane center forecasters expect Hurricane Oscar to weaken after making landfall in Cuba but remain a tropical storm as it moves north of Cuba late on Oct. 21. The latest storm of the 2024 hurricane season is expected to pass through the central Bahamas on Oct. 22.
USA Today's latest hurricane report also notes that Hurricane Oscar hit Cuba as millions of people across the island were left without power. Cuba's power grid crashed on October 20 - the fourth time in 48 hours.
According to Reuters, Cuba first lost power on the afternoon of October 18 when the island's largest power plant stopped working. Then the grid went down again on the morning of October 19. Cuba had made progress in restoring the grid before the third blackout occurred on the evening of October 19.
Cuba has closed schools until October 23 to guard against the effects of Hurricane Oscar and power outages.
AccuWeather forecasters had feared that Oscar could strengthen into a Category 2 hurricane. "Heavy rains falling on steep terrain in southeastern Cuba raise serious concerns for major flash flooding, as well as landslides," AccuWeather chief meteorologist Jon Porter warned. "The combination of these factors could lead to a humanitarian crisis in parts of southeastern Cuba if a stronger Oscar passes near or even makes landfall in Cuba."
"The impacts of the storm on Cuba are extremely concerning given the ongoing power crisis in Cuba. Adding another hurricane to the current power outage could make the impacts of the storm much worse, further endangering human life and leading to challenges in preparing for, responding to and recovering from the storm's impacts," he added.
Oscar is the 10th hurricane of the 2024 hurricane season, marking the 10th time in the record books that an Atlantic hurricane season has produced that many hurricanes, according to hurricane expert Phil Klotzbach of Colorado State University.
According to Fox News, Hurricane Oscar rapidly intensified, shocking forecasters. On October 18, Oscar was a low-pressure area that seemed unlikely to strengthen. By October 19, Oscar had rapidly intensified. No computer forecasting model predicted the sudden development of Hurricane Oscar. Hurricane warnings were hastily issued for the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Rapid intensification is extremely unusual but has happened, as in Hurricane Humberto in 2007. Humberto strengthened from a tropical depression into a hurricane in a single day just off the coast of Texas, setting a record for its intensity and strength.
