Tropical Storm Oscar heads toward the Atlantic after leaving six dead in Cuba: NPR

A person fishes along the boardwalk as waves crash during a power outage in Havana, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024.

Ramon Espinosa/AP

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Ramon Espinosa/AP

HAVANA – Tropical Storm Oscar was heading toward the Bahamas late Monday after dumping heavy rain on eastern Cuba.

Maximum sustained winds were 40 miles per hour (65 km/h) late Monday, while Oscar was moving north-northeast at 8 miles per hour. The storm struck about 105 miles south of Long Island in the Bahamas, the US National Hurricane Center in Miami said. A tropical storm warning was in effect for the central and southeastern Bahamas.

According to hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry, Oscar is the smallest hurricane ever with a wind field only about 6 miles across.

He noted that not a single forecast model suggested Oscar could strengthen into a hurricane on Saturday before hitting the Bahamas. “It’s not often that we see a colossal error in hurricane forecasting,” he wrote in an analysis published Monday.

Oscar was a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 75 miles per hour when it made landfall in eastern Cuba’s Guantanamo province near the town of Baracoa on Sunday evening.

Flooding in low-lying areas and at least six deaths were reported. Cubans were already suffering from a major blackout that has resulted in power and water outages across the island since last week.

Oscar made landfall on Great Inagua in the Bahamas earlier on Saturday, where residents were evacuated after their homes were damaged.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Kristy formed off Mexico’s southern Pacific coast on Monday. The storm was located 315 miles southwest of Acapulco and was moving west at 16 miles per hour. There were sustained winds of 45 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Kristy was forecast to strengthen into a hurricane on Wednesday, but would continue to move over open waters without threatening land.