Rafael made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday afternoon in western Cuba before weakening, the National Hurricane Center said.In a 7 p.m. update, the center said Rafael was 55 miles west-northwest of Havana,

Hurricane Rafael is passing through the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean and is forecast to rapidly intensify before making landfall in western Cuba, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

Forecasters warned Rafael could bring “life-threatening” storm surges, winds, and flash floods to western swaths of the island after it knocked out power and dumped rain on the Cayman Islands and Jamaica the day before.