This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Hurricane Paloma struck Cuba as a powerful Category 4 hurricane early this morning, bringing coastal floods and knocking over a communications tower, the CBC reports. It began weakening as soon as it moved over land, however, and by 10 a.m. Eastern Time, was downgraded to a tropical storm by the National Hurricane Center.
At that time, the storm was centered near Camaguey, Cuba, and its maximum sustained winds were 60 mph (95 km/hr).
Cuba's government had evacuated hundreds of thousands of people in the storm's path, and so far no deaths or injuries have been reported.
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Paloma is expected to continue weakening until it is a weak area of low pressure by Monday.
For more on hurricanes, see our in-depth report.
Satellite image of Paloma over Cuba courtesy NOAA