As category 2 Hurricane Sandy roared through the islands of The Bahamas on Thursday, residents of Jamaica and Cuba were left to pick up the pieces following the storm’s earlier landfall on those Caribbean islands.
A hurricane warning is in effect for the Ragged Islands in the southeastern Bahamas, the central Bahamas and the northwestern Bahamas. A tropical storm warning is in effect for the remainder of the southeastern Bahamas.
According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, at 5:00 pm EDT on Thursday, the centre of Hurricane Sandy was located about 60 miles southeast of Eleuthera in The Bahamas and about 125 miles east-southeast of Nassau, moving toward the north near 20 mph. A turn toward the northwest and a decrease in forward speed were expected Thursday night and Friday, followed by a turn back toward the north and north-northeast Friday night and Saturday. On the forecast track, the centre of Sandy was expected to continue moving through the central Bahamas on Thursday night and move near the northwestern Bahamas on Friday.
Maximum sustained winds were near 105 mph, with higher gusts. Sandy is a category two hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. Some weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours but Sandy is expected to remain a hurricane for the next couple of days. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 35 miles from the centre and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 205 miles. Sandy is expected to grow larger in size during the next couple of days.
Hurricane conditions were expected to continue spreading across the central Bahamas on Thursday evening and were expected to reach the northwestern Bahamas Thursday night and Friday.
Sandy is expected to produce total rainfall amounts of 6 to 12 inches across Haiti and the Dominican Republic, with isolated maximum amounts of 20 inches possible. These rains may produce life-threatening flash floods and mud slides, especially in areas of mountainous terrain. Rainfall totals of 3 to 6 inches are expected over portions of the Bahamas, with isolated maximum amounts of 12 inches possible.
The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters.
Some flooding was reported in low lying areas on Exuma in The Bahamas, but minimal damage, including downed trees and power lines.
Several residents and officials on islands affected by Sandy reported throughout the day that they were without cellular service on Thursday morning, and electricity was intermittent.
There were reported service disruptions on Rum Cay where all land line and cell phones services were down, and it was similar situation on Cay Island, with the exception of Arthurs Town near New Bight.
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