SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Tropical Storm Oscar chugged toward the Bahamas on Tuesday after making landfall in Cuba as a Category 1 hurricane, killing at least six people as it unleashed heavy rains on an island also hit by an unrelated massive power outage. Oscar was located 45 miles (75 kilometers) south-southeast of Long Island in the Bahamas on Tuesday morning. It had winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and was moving north-northeast at 12 mph (19 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
“Oscar is at best barely a tropical storm at this time,” the center said. It was expected to drop up to 5 inches (13 centimeters) of rain across the southeastern Bahamas, with up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) in isolated areas. A tropical storm warning was in effect for the central and southeastern Bahamas.
The storm made history as the smallest recorded hurricane, with a wind field of only about 6 miles (10 kilometers) across. It caught many by surprise as it made landfall in Grand Inagua Island in the Bahamas on Saturday and a second landfall in eastern Cuba late Sunday. “It’s not often we see a colossal failure in hurricane forecasting,” Michael Lowry, a hurricane specialist and storm surge expert, wrote in an analysis.
He noted no models indicated Oscar would strengthen into a hurricane. Oscar dropped at least 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain in parts of eastern Cuba on Monday, with forecasters warning of heavy flooding and possible landslides. The six deaths wer.