Hurricane Rafael Strengthens to Category 3

Hurricane Rafael intensified into a Category 3 storm on Wednesday afternoon as it passed by the Cayman Islands, heading toward western Cuba, where it was expected to make landfall by evening. According to the National Hurricane Center, Rafael was forecast to strengthen even further before reaching Cuba, marking another challenge for the island, which is already grappling with power outages and recovering from a previous hurricane that killed at least six people in the eastern region two weeks ago.

As of 1 p.m. Eastern time, Rafael was classified as a low-end Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 115 miles per hour after a period of steady growth. The hurricane was located about 40 miles northeast of the Isle of Youth and 85 miles south of Havana, moving northwest at 14 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Forecasters warned that Rafael could hit Cuba as a potential Category 4 storm, bringing life-threatening storm surge, damaging hurricane-force winds, and flash flooding to western parts of the island. The hurricane had already caused heavy rainfall in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands on Tuesday. I

A hurricane warning for the Cayman Islands, in effect on Tuesday, was lifted for Grand Cayman on Wednesday. However, the warning remained in place for Little Cayman, Cayman Brac, and the Cuban provinces of Pinar del Rio, Artemisa, La Habana, Mayabeque, Matanzas, and the Isle of Youth.