Hurricane Rafael intensifies rapidly as Category 3 as it nears Cuba

Hurricane Rafael has intensified into a powerful Category 3 hurricane just hours before it is forecast to make landfall in Cuba, according to the United States National Weather Service.

Hurricane Rafael is located about 135km (85 miles) south of Havana, Cuba’s capital, with maximum sustained winds of 185km/h (115mph), the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported on Wednesday.

 “[Rafael] expected to bring life-threatening storm surge, damaging hurricane-force winds, and flash flooding to portions of western Cuba,” NHC said.

It was another stroke of bad news for Cuba, which has been struggling with blackouts while recovering from Hurricane Oscar, which killed at least six people two weeks ago in the eastern part of the island.

Rafael is likely to exacerbate the island’s acute energy crisis, which has led to work stoppages and prolonged power outages in recent weeks due to decrepit infrastructure and a lack of fuel for Cuba’s oil-fired power stations.