Tropical storm "Rafael" strengthened late last night as it moved north toward Cuba, which is still struggling to recover from nationwide power outages and a hurricane two weeks ago, Reuters reported, citing BTA.
The US National Hurricane Center said that "Rafael" will "intensify steadily or rapidly" before passing over western Cuba with maximum wind speeds of up to 100 miles per hour forecast for tomorrow.
The Miami-based U.S. Weather Service also warned of dangerous storm surge and damaging waves in the Cayman Islands region, and said it expected Storm "Raphael" to strengthen further late tonight before heading towards Cuba.
Expected "Raphael" to pass close to the Cuban capital, Havana, whose crumbling and aging infrastructure and residential buildings are particularly vulnerable to strong winds.