MIAMI, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Extremely dangerous Hurricane Michelle hammered southwestern Cuba with devastating winds and torrents of rain Sunday as it bore down on Havana with winds of 135 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.
By midday it was centered over the Caribbean about 140 miles south of Havana and headed on a course that is expected make a direct hit on the capital city, rake the Florida Keys with hurricane force winds and brush south Florida with heavy rain and winds up to 50 mph. A deviation in the projected track, however, could bring the hurricane over the Florida mainland.
Mandatory evacuation was called for the Florida Keys including Key West although many residents were electing to stay home. Hospitals in the Keys were loading their most seriously ill patients onto C-130 transport aircraft and taking them to hospitals in central Florida.
Campgrounds were shut down in the Keys, schools were closed for Monday and weekend powerboat races were canceled.
Hurricane warning flags were flying over the entire length of the Keys and in western Cuba from Ciego de Avila west.
The core of the storm was expected to slam ashore near Cuba's Zapata Peninsula late Sunday afternoon. About 150,000 have been evacuated in Havana, and Cuban President Fidel Castro has urged farmers to do what they can to save their crops. Tobacco farmers have been rushing to save their crops.
Tropical storm warnings were called for southeast and southwest Florida from Jupiter Inlet south around the tip of Florida and north up the west coast to Bonita Springs.
A hurricane warning is in effect for the northeastern and central Bahamas.
At 10 a.m. EST the center of Hurricane Michelle was located near latitude 21.3 north, longitude 82.1 west, 30 miles east-southeast of the Isle of Youth, formerly known as Isle of Pines.
Michelle was moving northeast near 12 mph and that course to the northeast or north-northeast is expected to continue through Monday morning.
Hurricane force winds are extended 45 miles out from the center and a gust of 50 mph was reported on Sombrero Key, Fla.
The core of the hurricane is expected to cross Cuba during the afternoon and night hours, but rain bands and squalls were pummeling parts of Cuba, Grand Cayman and Jamaica.
"Rainfall accumulations of 10 to 20 inches can be expected near the path of Michelle as it crosses Cuba," Stewart said. "Outer rain bands are also spreading across the Florida Straits and the Florida Keys and are moving toward the southeast Florida coast."
A storm surge of near 20 feet is possible when the eye of the hurricane crosses the Cuban coast.
"Reconnaissance aircraft have found that the barometric pressure is about the same so it is likely to be a Category 4 or at least a Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale when it crosses Cuba," said Ed Rappaport, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center.
He also warned the Keys could experience "considerable damage."
The scale starts at Category 1 for minimal hurricanes, and tops out at Category 5 with winds of more than 155 mph.
Residents in mobile homes or any structures likely to be damaged will be advised to move to a shelter by emergency management personnel, Stewart said.
