Hurricane Paloma makes landfall in Cuba by Steph Ball
Hurricane Paloma made landfall across Cuba late Saturday, near Santa Cruz del Sur, bringing torrential rain coupled with winds over 100mph (160km/h).
At its strongest Paloma intensified into an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 hurricane. It passed directly over Little Cayman and Cayman Brac early yesterday with winds reaching 140mph (225 km/h).
Paloma crossed the Cayman Islands knocking out power, ripping off roofs and flooding low lying areas, also bringing strong storm surges. The hurricane then weakened to a Category 3 hurricane before going on to make landfall in Cuba, prompting the evacuation of thousands of residents to higher ground.
As of 0900Z Sunday morning, Paloma was crossing eastern-central Cuba having weakened further to a Category 1 hurricane, with winds down to 85mph (140 km/h). It will exit Cuba over the next few hours en route for the Bahamas.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Paloma is the second strongest Atlantic hurricane ever noted in November. The strongest was Hurricane Lenny in 1999 which saw winds reaching 155mph (250km/h). The 2008 season is also the only season in recorded history to feature a major hurricane in every month from July to November, these being Bertha, Gustav, Ike, Omar and Paloma.
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