Satellite image shows Hurricane Rafael in the Gulf of Mexico on November 8, 2024.
Source: NOAA
Rafael moved westward across the Gulf of Mexico on Friday morning, the first major November hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico in nearly 40 years, bringing life-threatening conditions to the southern U.S. coastline.
Forecasters said the storm could cause dangerous waves and rip currents across the Gulf in the coming days, leaving millions without power after wreaking havoc in Cuba.
The National Hurricane Center said that as of 4 a.m. ET, Rafael was 585 miles east of the mouth of the Rio Grande, a Category 3 hurricane with 120 mph sustained winds, and moving west at 9 mph. .
A man walks on a flooded street on November 7, 2024, one day after Hurricane Rafael made landfall in Batabano, Cuba.
Norris Perez | Reuters
Raphael is now Tied with Hurricane Kate in 1985 The strongest storm ever recorded in the Gulf.
The storm is expected to weaken through the weekend but could still produce tropical storm-force winds within 115 miles of its center, with wind speeds between 39 and 73 mph.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Cann visited storm-hit areas on Thursday and spoke with a team working to repair six power towers that were knocked down by 115 mph winds earlier this week. chat.
State operator UNE said the country’s entire electricity network collapsed, plunging the country’s 10 million people into darkness – the island’s second total blackout in the last month – with many areas still without power. More than 283,000 people were evacuated, including 98,300 from the capital, authorities said.
Firefighters inspect the remains of houses during a power outage in Havana, Cuba, on November 7, 2024, after Hurricane Rafael destroyed the country’s power grid.
Norris Perez | Reuters
The capital, Havana, with 2 million people living in densely populated and mostly old buildings, is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. Desperate locals brought their own generators to hotels in search of scarce power.
“This is the second time we have to go through what happened: the weather and the problems with the national grid,” local resident Mario de la Rosa Negrín told The Associated Press. “In solidarity, the hotel provides electricity to its neighbors. plant so people can charge their phones and lights.”
Rafael is the 17th named storm of the hurricane season. This is the sixth hurricane recorded in the Gulf of Mexico in November and the third Category 2 or above hurricane. The others are Ida and Cate in 2009
On November 7, 2024, in Havana, Cuba, workers were clearing fallen trees from power cables a day after Hurricane Rafael destroyed the country’s power grid, causing 10 million people to lose power.
Norris Perez | Reuters
