The light at the end of the tunnel could be seen for residents in the devastated Sister Islands as Category 4 Hurricane Paloma finally began lumbering off to the northeast late Saturday morning.
But the damage has been done.
Hurricane Paloma’s effect on Grand Cayman |
Early reports from Cayman Brac are that homes have been lost, and other structures have sustained serious damage.
There’s been no word on damage yet from Little Cayman, the island expected to be hardest hit by the monster storm.
At 10.00am EST the center of Hurricane Paloma was located near latitude 19.9 north…longitude 79.3 west or about 130 miles east-northeast of Grand Cayman and about 140 miles southwest of Camaguey, Cuba.
Paloma is moving toward the east-northeast near 9mph and this general motion is expected through Sunday with some decrease in forward speed after landfall. On the forecast track, the center of Paloma is expected to move away from Cayman Brac Saturday morning and be approaching the coast of south-central Cuba late Saturday or early Sunday.
Maximum sustained winds are near 140 mph with higher gusts. Paloma is an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Some slow weakening is forecast during the next 24 hours, but Paloma is expected to remain a major hurricane up until landfall in Cuba.
Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 25 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 115 miles.
Life-threatening storm surge flooding of 17 to 23 feet, accompanied by large and dangerous battering waves, is expected near and to the east of where the center of Paloma makes landfall along the south coast of Cuba. Storm surge flooding in the Cayman Islands will gradually subside today.
Paloma is expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of 5 to 10 inches over little Cayman, Cayman Brac, and central and eastern Cuba…with isolated maximum totals of 20 inches possible. These rains may produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.
Rainfall accumulations of 1 to 3 inches are possible across Jamaica and additional rainfall amounts of one to two inches are possible across Grand Cayman.
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