Rafael is forecast to strengthen Tuesday and will likely become a hurricane over the next 24 hours as it batters the western Caribbean on the first leg of an uncertain journey toward the US Gulf Coast.

The National Hurricane Center forecast Tropical Storm Rafael to grow into the season’s 11th hurricane on Tuesday as it moved toward Cuba with winds and

Rafael was expected to continue to pass by Jamaica through Tuesday afternoon, be near or over the Cayman Islands on Tuesday night, and make landfall in Cuba on Wednesday.