Hurricane Oscar makes landfall in eastern Cuba after striking the Bahamas

MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane Oscar has made landfall in eastern Cuba, an island beleaguered by a massive power outage, after striking the southeastern Bahamas earlier in the day Sunday, the US National Hurricane Center said.

The hurricane center in Miami said the storm's center arrived in the Cuban province of Guantanamo, near the city of Baracoa, on Sunday evening.

Its maximum sustained winds were near 80 mph (130 kph).

The system is expected to move across eastern Cuba Sunday night and Monday.

Forecasters said 6 to 12 inches (15.2 to 30.5 centimetres) of rain are expected across eastern Cuba through early Wednesday, with some isolated locations getting up to 18 inches (45.72 centimetres). A storm surge of up to 3 feet (0.91 meters) in some areas of Cuba's north shore in the area was possible, the center said.

Oscar was expected to weaken over eastern Cuba before making a turn to the northeast and approaching the central Bahamas on Tuesday, the center said.

The storm's center was located about 5 miles (10 kilometres) east-southeast of Baracoa, or about 50 miles (80 kilometres) east-northeast of Guantanamo. It was heading west-southwest at 7 mph (11 kph).

Oscar made landfall on Great Inagua island in the Bahamas earlier Sunday. It was expected to produce a dangerous storm surge that could translate into significant coastal flooding there and in other areas of the southeastern Bahamas. Two to four inches (5.1 to 10.2 centimetres) of rainfall were expected, with isolated areas seeing up to 6 inches (15.2 centimetres).

The hurricane's arrival comes as Cuba tries to recover from its worst blackout in at least two years, which left millions without power for two days last week. Some electrical service was restored Saturday.

Philippe Papin of the National Hurricane Center said it was somewhat unexpected that Oscar became a hurricane Saturday.

“Unfortunately the system kind of snuck up a little bit on us,” Papin said.

Hours earlier Tropical Storm Nadine formed off Mexico's southern Caribbean coast. It degenerated into a tropical depression as it moved over land.

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