hurricane

[sunsetter]

Hurricane Paloma strikes Cuba

Hurricane Paloma toppled trees, damaged homes and knocked over a communications tower as it passed through Cuba today after striking the coast with 120mph winds.
The hurricane, the island's third major storm of the year, had grown to a Category 4 with 145mph winds while barging through the Cayman Islands, where it ripped roofs off houses and storm shelters and flooded streets, before heading to Cuba.
But it came ashore in Cuba on Saturday as a Category 3 hurricane and weakened to a Category 1 with top sustained winds near 85 mph as it crossed the island and headed towards the Atlantic, forecasters said.
They expected Paloma to continue weakening over the next day or two, even after it moved off Cuba's coast and headed towards the Bahamas, and to become a tropical storm sometime on Sunday.
Cuban state-run television reported widespread blackouts and said a communications tower had fallen in the province of Camaguey, where Paloma made landfall on Saturday evening near the town of Santa Cruz del Sur.
Rains of up 10 inches were predicted, with more possible in mountainous areas.
A storm surge up to 20 feet had caused coastal flooding, pushing the sea as much as 2,300 feet (700 metres) inland and flooding hundreds of homes. Television reports showed waves whipped up over coastal barriers.
Cuba said more than a million people were evacuated as Paloma approached. So far, no deaths or injuries had been reported,
Reuters

[dirtydog]

Paloma Roars Ashore in Cuba, Then Weakens

Hurricane Paloma made landfall near Santa Cruz del Sur late Saturday as an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, but soon weakened to a tropical storm with winds of 70 mph according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. (Nov. 9)

[pickel]

I have friends in the Caymans that were lucky enough to weather the storm relatively unscathed. Why the fock somebody would want to live by choice in the constant path of hurricanes is beyond me.