Tropical Storm Oscar dumps heavy rain on eastern Cuba as it heads toward the Bahamas

Tropical Storm Oscar dumped heavy rain across eastern Cuba on Monday after making landfall as a Category 1 hurricane on the island already beleaguered by a massive power outage.

Its maximum sustained winds blew at 40 m.p.h. (65 km/h) on Monday as Oscar moved northwest at six m.p.h. (8 km/h). The storm was located about 50 miles (80 kilometres) northwest of Guantánamo, Cuba, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Up to 14 inches (36 centimetres) of rain were forecast across eastern Cuba, with isolated amounts of up to 20 inches (about 50 centimetres).

“The main concern is just very heavy rainfall that’s occurring over portions of eastern Cuba right now that are likely producing significant flooding and even potentially some mudslides in that area,” said Philippe Papin, a hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center.

Oscar is the smallest hurricane on record, with a wind field of only about six miles (10 kilometres) across, according to hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry.

He noted that not a single forecast model indicated that Oscar might strengthen into a hurricane on Saturday before making landfall in the Bahamas. “It’s not often we see a colossal failure in hurricane forecasting,” he wrote in an analysis published Monday.

Oscar made landfall in the eastern Cuban province of Guantanamo, near the city of Baracoa, on Sunday evening with winds of 75 m.p.h. (120 km/h). The storm had also made landfall on Saturday on Great Inagua in the Bahamas, where residents were evacuated after their homes were damaged.

Rain and flooding in low-lying areas were reported in Cuba’s eastern provinces. Cuban media said two-metre (6.5-feet) swells were hitting the coast and that roofs and walls in Baracoa had been damaged.

The storm is expected to emerge off Cuba’s northern coast late Monday and move near the southeastern and central Bahamas on Tuesday, U.S. forecasters said.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for the north coast of the Cuban provinces of Las Tunas, Holguin, and Guantanamo to Punta Maisi; for the south coast of Guantánamo province; and for the southeastern Bahamas. A tropical storm watch was in effect for the central Bahamas.

Cuba suffered an island-wide power blackout Friday. Some electrical service was restored Saturday, but most residents remain without power. The country’s energy minister expressed hope that the grid could be restored Monday or Tuesday.

Associated Press reporter Julie Walker in New York contributed to this report