Hurricane Rafael causes damage, leads to power outage: See photos

The National Hurricane Center said the storm hit the Cuban province of Artemisa, east of Playa Majana, at 4:15 p.m. ET. In its 1 a.m. update, the hurricane center said Rafael was 115 miles (185 kilometers) west-northwest of Havana. The storm's maximum sustained wind speeds had dropped to 105 mph, making it a Category 2 storm.

Rafael, which brought winds of up to 110 mph (180 km/h), knocked out the island's power grid before the system moved into the Gulf of Mexico.

“Strong winds of great intensity caused by Hurricane Rafael will lead to the shutdown of the national electricity system,” Unión Eléctrica de Cuba, the country’s electricity company, said in a post on X. “Emergency protocols apply.”

An update from Diktyon, an independent organization that monitors the Cuban internet, said they are monitoring the internet because the hurricane caused a power outage across the country.

Using a traffic trend graph from CloudFlare Radar, Diktyon's post shows the decline in internet traffic in Cuba.

In an update on Thursday, Diktyon said which services on the island were affected.

“More than 1,400 radio base sites are affected, representing approximately 60% of the antennas in the country,” an X post said.

Diktyon added that 90,000 landlines were also affected.

Two weeks ago there was a power outage in Cuba that left about 10 million residents in the dark. Hurricane Oscar, a Category 1 hurricane, left the country without power as the Antonio Guiteras Power Plant, the country's largest and most efficient power plant, shut down for the first time.

Authorities have suspended flights, transport and classes in affected areas. Evacuations in coastal areas are continuing, Excélsior, a Spanish-language newspaper, reported.

Hurricane Rafael: Storms in Gulf after Cuba hits, power grid collapses

Havana was battered by rain and wind as Hurricane Rafael made landfall

Gusty winds and rain associated with Hurricane Rafael hit the Cuban capital Havana.

Photos show the aftermath of Hurricane Rafael in Cuba

Contributors: Christopher Cann, Eric Lagatta and Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY.

Ahjané Forbes is a reporter on USA TODAY's National Trending Team. Ahjané covers breaking news, auto recalls, crime, food recalls, health, lottery and public policy stories. Send her an email at [email protected]. Follow her on Instagram, Threads and X (Twitter) @forbesfineest.