Cuba started preparations on Monday for the unexpected arrival of a strengthening tropical depression in the southern Caribbean Sea.
As per Reuters, the region is still dealing with the effects of a nationwide blackout and a hurricane that hit just two weeks ago.
The US National Hurricane Center stated that this temperature is expected to develop into a tropical storm named “Rafael.”
It is predicted to pass close to Jamaica on Monday night and then hit Cuba as a Category 1 hurricane on Tuesday night.
The Miami-based forecaster said, "There is increasing confidence of steady strengthening until the system reaches Cuba or the southeastern Gulf of Mexico.”
Many of the island's residents still face hours-long outages daily due to generation shortfalls.
Authorities announced that considering the situation they had evacuated more than 66,000 Cubans from far-eastern Cuba, in Guantanamo province.
Hurricane Oscar made landfall in Cuba. The province of Guantánamo was the worst hit, with more than 1,000 homes damaged by heavy rains and strong winds.
Cubans are struggling not only with power cuts, but also with fuel and food shortages as it faces worst economic crisis in three decades.
Plans were also under way to evacuate thousands of residents in Pinar del Rio province, on the island's far-western end.
Now, the system is about 195 miles (310 km) south of Kingston, Jamaica, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 km/h).
