
Ramon Espinosa / AP
A driver maneuvers his classic American car along a wet road as a wave crashes against the Malecon in Havana, Cuba, on Oct. 25. Hurricane Sandy blasted across eastern Cuba on Thursday as a potent Category 2 storm and headed for the Bahamas after causing at least two deaths in the Caribbean.

Thony Belizaire / AFP - Getty Images
A UN Peacekeeper stands watch near a bridge washed away by heavy rains from Hurricane Sandy on Oct. 25 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Gilbert Bellamy / Reuters
Residents of Kingston try to cross the Hope River after a bridge was washed out by Hurricane Sandy, on Oct. 25.
By NBC News and news services
HAVANA — Hurricane Sandy grew into a major potential threat to the Northeast on Thursday after hammering Cuba's second-largest city and taking aim at the Bahamas.
Strengthening rapidly after tearing into Jamaica and crossing the warm Caribbean Sea, Sandy hit southeastern Cuba early on Thursday with 105-mph winds that cut power, damaged homes and blew over trees across the city of Santiago de Cuba.

Thony Belizaire / AFP - Getty Images
The Red Cross distributes supplies to people in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy Oct. 25 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Dieu Nalio Chery / AP
A woman cries out in front of her flooded house caused by heavy rains from Hurricane Sandy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Oct. 25.

Miguel Rubiera / Cuban Government National Information Agency via Reuters
A resident salvages a refrigerator from his damaged house, with the help of other men, after Hurricane Sandy hit Santiago de Cuba on Oct. 25. Sandy hit southeastern Cuba early on Thursday with 105-mph winds that cut power and blew over trees across the city of Santiago de Cuba. Reports from the city of 500,000 people, about 470 miles southeast of Havana spoke of significant damage, with many homes damaged or destroyed.

Dieu Nalio Chery / AP
Children sit on a cot inside their flooded home caused by heavy rains from Hurricane Sandy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Oct. 25.
Related content:
TODAY's Al Roker tracks Hurricane Sandy after it makes landfall in Southern Cuba with heavy rain and wind gusts up to 105mph. As it moves up north through the Bahamas and eastern Cuba, tropical storm watches have been issued in the Florida Keys.


