Hurricane Rafael swirled past the Cayman Islands and was expected to rapidly intensify until making landfall on Wednesday in western Cuba, where it's forecast to hit as a Category 2 hurricane. It was another stroke of bad news for Cuba,

Tropical Storm Rafael gained steam late on Monday as it churned northward toward Cuba, which is still struggling to recover from a nationwide blackout and hurricane two weeks ago. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Rafael would see "steady or rapid intensification" before plowing across western Cuba with maximum predicted winds of up to 100 mph (160 kph) by Wednesday.