of . The hurricane continued west-northwestward as it entered the Caribbean, and early on October 2 its winds reached . Thirty hours later, Flora intensified slightly further and attained peak winds of while located about south of the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. After turning to the northwest, Hurricane Flora maintained its peak strength, and made landfall in Sud, Haiti, late on October 3 as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale with gusts from . The calm of the eye lasted for up to 70 minutes in one location. After quickly weakening to a hurricane, Flora turned more to the west in the Windward Passage, and restrengthened slightly to strike southeastern Cuba about east of Guantanamo Bay with winds of . A high pressure system to its north turned the motion of the hurricane to a westward drift, causing it to weaken quickly over land. Flora neared the north coast of Cuba on October 4 before turning to the south. It executed a cyclonic loop and entered the coastal waters off Granma Province. An anticyclone to the west of Flora turned the hurricane to the north, bringing it ashore near Santa Cruz del Sur on October 7 with winds of around . Flora initially turned southeastward over central Cuba, and late on October 8 a short-wave trough turned the hurricane northeastward, bringing it into the coastal waters of the Holguín Province. Flora remained a hurricane while drifting over land due to abundant moisture and a favorable upper level environment. After passing over the southeastern Bahamas early on October 9, Flora began to restrengthen, and on October 10 it again reached hurricane status while located south of Bermuda. The hurricane gradually weakened as it continued northeastward, and weakened to a Category 1 hurricane on October 11. Flora gradually lost its convection over the north Atlantic Ocean, and transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on October 12 while located east-southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland. The extratropical remnant dissipated the next day. Preparations The Weather Bureau in San Juan, Puerto Rico, issued a hurricane warning for Trinidad, Tobago, and the Grenadines south of Saint Vincent in the cyclone's first advisory on Hurricane Flora. Gale warnings were later issued for islands off northern Venezuela and from Saint Vincent northward to Martinique. Advisories on Flora emphasized the danger of the hurricane and advised preparations to be rushed to completion. The advisories also