Monday, October 21

Tropical Storm Oscar made landfall in eastern Cuba yesterday, bringing heavy rain and strong winds to the area that has been crippled by power outages in recent days.

Oscar began as a weak tropical storm east of Turks and Caicos on Saturday morning. By midday, the storm had already strengthened to Category 1 status, bringing winds of 85 mph to the island chain as it drifted west. However, due to cooler waters ahead, the storm maintained Category 1 status as it hit the Bahamas' Great Inagua island and approached Cuba.

Oscar arrived in eastern Cuba as a Category 1 hurricane packing winds of 80 mph, making landfall around 10 miles east of the town of Baracoa, a settlement close to the eastern tip of Cuba. Since landfall, it has weakened to a tropical storm with winds of 60 mph, but rain is still a significant threat. While Oscar is a relatively small storm, it is moving very slowly-- a mere 6 mph -- allowing it to drop more rain. Heavy rainfall over the next few days will cause widespread flash flooding and mudslides in some more mountainous regions-- rainfall totals are expected to reach around 6 to 12 inches across eastern Cuba, with up to 18 inches of rain hitting certain areas. Several feet of storm surge can also be expected along the country's northern shoreline.

Due to wind patterns, Oscar is currently making a U-turn over eastern Cuba, and it is currently heading north. While it is weakening over land, Oscar will soon emerge back into the ocean, allowing it to maintain tropical storm status. From there, it will continue along the path of the Gulf Stream, carrying it over the Bahamas and into the open ocean of the Atlantic. Rainfall totals of around 3 to 5 inches are expected in parts of the Bahamas with up to 8 inches in some areas, as well as 2 to 4 inches in the Turks and Caicos.

This comes just a few days after the entire island of Cuba lost power after one of the country's biggest power plants stopped functioning. The power plant ran out of fuel due to a local shortage, causing a collapse of the power grid. While electricity has intermittently come back for short periods of time, many areas have not received any sort of electricity since Friday, including the densely populated capital city of Havana. Unfortunately, the arrival of Hurricane Oscar has only worsened that problem, and it may be a while before citizens in eastern Cuba regain power.

Upcoming Events:

• Sukkot Ends (Wednesday, October 23)

• Shemini Atzeret (Wednesday, October 23 to Friday, October 25)

• United Nations Day (Thursday, October 24)

• World Development Information Day (Thursday, October 24)

• Simchat Torah (Thursday, October 24 to Friday, October 25)

• World Series Begins (Friday, October 25)

• World Day for Audiovisual Heritage (Sunday, October 27)

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): The letter R is sometimes referred to as the “littera canina,” or canine letter, because the way Latin speakers trilled the R made it sound like a growling dog. In fact, William Shakespeare even gave the letter a shout-out in his play Romeo and Juliet, when Juliet’s nurse calls the letter R “the dog’s name” in Act 2, Scene 4.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): If your past calls, don't answer. It has nothing new to say. (Unknown)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Defenestration (noun)- Defenestration is most often used to refer to a usually swift dismissal or expulsion, as from a political party or office. It is also used to refer to a throwing of a person or thing out of a window.

In a Sentence: Once fancying itself something of a big tent, the group now seeks the defenestration of any local leader who isn't aligned with the current mayor's administration.