Category Two Hurricane Sandy is continuing on its northward path after killing two people in the Caribbean, one in Jamaica and one in Haiti. Cuba felt Sandy's maximum winds of 114 miles an hour, according to the National Weather Service.
It's still expected to hit the Bahamas, the Miami Herald reports, as it dishes out very bad weather for South Florida and, eventually, the U. S. east coast.
The South Florida Water Management District was preparing for heavy rains and potential flooding, although no repeat of the deluge from Tropical Storm Isaac was expected. Southeast Florida already has received near-record amounts of rain this year. Robert Molleda, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Miami office, said storms could produce between one and three inches of rain — but probably not across the entire region. “It’s going to be a close call whether any substantial rain bands do make it on shore,” he said. Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman for the hurricane center, said computer models remain split on whether it will turn harmlessly out into the Atlantic Ocean or curve west toward the Northeast Coast as a still-powerful but nameless “extra-tropical’’ storm.
Here are the latest maps and warnings from the National Hurricane Center.
