Authorities in the Bahamas closed most schools Monday as Tropical Storm Imelda dropped heavy rain in the northern Caribbean. Flights to and from the islands in the Bahamas were cancelled, with airports expected to reopen after weather conditions improve.
The storm affected Great Abaco Island of the Bahamas, which is still recovering from Hurricane Dorian after it slammed into parts of the Bahamas as a devastating Category 5 hurricane in 2019.
Imelda was forecast to become a hurricane on Tuesday and spin out to open ocean, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for parts of the northwestern Bahamas, including Eleuthera, the Abacos, Grand Bahama Island and the surrounding keys. Power outages were reported in some areas, with authorities closing government offices on affected islands.
Authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders for some islands over the weekend.
A death and evacuations across Cuba
Meanwhile, Imelda was expected to drop 5 to 10 cm across eastern Cuba.
“After two days of intense rains in the municipality of Santiago de Cuba, we are now in the stage of saving human lives and the economy of the entire city,” Mayor Indira Oliva Bueno said, according to a broadcast aired by the official Caribe channel.
In the easternmost part of Cuba, from Camagüey to Guantánamo, authorities supplied food and drinking water to residents, according to official TV reports.
Overall, Imelda forced the evacuation of some 1,291 people across Cuba, with 158 of them staying in shelters.
“We are working with our agricultural colleagues to provide food to the population, which is essential,” said Alexander Olivares, president of the San Antonio del Sur Defense Council in Guantánamo.
Humberto roars in open waters
Meanwhile, Hurricane Humberto, a Category 4 storm, churned in open waters nearby, which forecasters said would cause Imelda to abruptly turn to the east-northeast, away from the southeastern United States coast.
“This is really what’s going to be saving the United States from really seeing catastrophic rainfall,” said Alex DaSilva, lead hurricane expert for AccuWeather, a private U.S. weather forecasting company.
DaSilva said the two storms would draw closer and start rotating counterclockwise around each other in what’s known as the Fujiwhara effect.
“It’s a very rare phenomenon overall in the Atlantic basin,” he said.
‘A double whammy for Bermuda’
However, he added, “It’s going to be a double whammy for Bermuda, Humberto first and Imelda following close behind.”
He said Imelda could pass within 24 km of Bermuda as the Atlantic season’s soon-to-be fourth named hurricane. Meanwhile, the centre of Humberto was expected to pass west and then north of Bermuda on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Michael Weeks, Bermuda’s national security minister, urged residents to prepare, warning that there have been “some near misses this season regarding severe storms.”
“Hurricane Humberto is a dangerous storm, and with another system developing to our south, every household in Bermuda should take the necessary steps to be prepared,” he said.
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