HAVANA: Hurricane Sandy barreled toward the Bahamas Thursday as a powerful category two storm, after battering Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba and claiming three lives so far.
The US-based National Hurricane Center said the storm was packing winds of up to 105 miles (165 kilometers) per hour as it moved north, near the top of the category two range on the five-rung Saffir-Simpson wind scale.
Forecasters predicted the storm would weaken somewhat over the next 48 hours. But Sandy remains a hurricane as it passes over the Bahamas, according to the NHC's 1500 GMT advisory.
Heavy rains and strong winds were already being felt in some areas of the archipelago Thursday, with the full impact of the storm expected to start hitting within the next few hours, the Bahamian newspaper The Nassau Guardian reported.
All public schools and government offices were closed Thursday as a precautionary measure, but emergency personnel remained on duty, the paper said.
Prime Minster Perry Christie warned residents on Wednesday to get ready for the storm, advising businesses, including banks, to stay shut through Friday, according to the Guardian.
"My government stands ready to assist residents who may be impacted in the projected areas. I impress upon you to secure yourselves and your property," he told the House of Assembly.
The hurricane plowed across Jamaica and Haiti on Wednesday, dumping heavy rains, downing power lines, and forcing hundreds of people to seek emergency shelter.
Jamaican paper The Gleaner reported a 74-year-old person was killed when a boulder rolled onto a house, while in Haiti, a woman drowned trying to cross a swollen river in Camp-Perrin and another died in the small town of Coteaux, a regional senator told AFP.
Jamaica's electricity provider said some 70 percent of its customers were without power due to the high winds and torrential rain, and police had ordered a 48-hour curfew in an effort to deter looters.
Haiti was on "red alert" with all schools closed Thursday.
Meanwhile, the storm moved away from Cuba Thursday morning, with no immediate reports of loss of life.
A blogger close to authorities, Yohandry (www.yohandry.com) said he had "confirmation of some injuries" in Santiago de Cuba, the country's second-largest city, as well as of "hundreds of houses destroyed."
Communication was difficult with eastern Cuba provinces, which experienced the brunt of the storm, but there were reports of torn-off roofs, fallen trees and power and telephone outages.
Some 1,700 people had been evacuated in Santiago de Cuba province as a precautionary measure.
"We cannot put a single human life in danger. We must evacuate people in areas we know are likely to be flooded, without losing time," local civil defense official Lazaro Esposito told Cuban television.
The hurricane also brought rough weather to the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, where terror suspects are held.
The Pentagon said a preliminary hearing at Guantanamo involving the alleged Al-Qaeda mastermind of the USS Cole bombing in 2000 was delayed until Thursday due to the storm.
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30.
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