The Category 3 storm knocked out the country's entire power grid just before making landfall, making it almost impossible for people to receive radio or television updates.

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.

By Dave Sherwood and Nelson Acosta HAVANA (Reuters) -Hurricane Rafael began lashing Cuba's south shore as a Category 3 cyclone shortly after noon on Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said,