HAVANA — Hurricane Rafael swirled Friday through the Gulf of Mexico where it was expected to break apart after plowing through Cuba, knocking out the country’s power grid and collapsing hundreds of houses.

This morning the now Category 2 hurricane was located 230 miles north-northeast of Progreso, Mexico. It had maximum sustained winds of 175 kph and was moving northwest at 15 kph, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

It was forecast to move westward toward Mexico in the coming days and forecasters warned that swells from the hurricane were likely to cause “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.”

However, no hurricane warnings were in place, and the storm was expected to weaken and “meander” over the centre of the Gulf through early next week.

The hurricane tore through Jamaica and the Cayman Islands earlier in the week, knocking out power and fuelling mudslides.

On Wednesday evening, it barrelled into Cuba, causing yet another headache for the island.

Rafael’s fierce winds knocked out Cuba’s electric grid, forced the evacuation of 283,000 people and collapsed 461 homes. It also left trees, power lines and rubble strewn across flooded streets.

On Friday, the Cuban government said it was able to restore power to approximately 143,000 homes in Havana, though many people were still without power.

AIR CANADA, WESTJET, SUNWING UPDATES

Air Canada has extended its flexible rebooking policy for Holguin (HOG) and Varadero (VRA) through today, Nov. 8, and tomorrow, Nov. 9. More details can be found here.

WestJet has also implemented its policy for VRA for Nov. 8; click here.

Also Sunwing has flexible booking options for HOG and VRA for Nov. 8, click here.