( CNN ) -- Hurricane Paloma continued to intensify Friday night as the Category 3 storm pounded Grand Cayman island with strong winds and heavy rain . As of 10 p.m . ET Friday , Paloma was moving northeast through the Cayman Islands . The National Hurricane Center said additional strengthening of the storm could occur through Saturday night as Paloma turned northeast and headed toward Cuba . A hurricane warning was in effect Friday throughout the Cayman islands , with residents being told that `` preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion , '' the center said . A hurricane warning means that hurricane conditions are expected within 24 hours . Cuban officials also issued a hurricane warning for the provinces of Sancti Spiritus , Ciego de Avila , Camaguey and Las Tunas , the Miami , Florida-based hurricane center said in an advisory . As of 10 p.m . ET , Paloma 's winds were near 115 mph ( 185 kph ) with higher gusts . Paloma is forecast to approach Cuba as a Category 2 storm after weakening late Saturday , according to the hurricane center . Watch rainstorms beat the Cayman Islands » . Friday evening , the center of Paloma was about 25 miles ( 40 kilometers ) south of Grand Cayman Island and about 275 miles ( 443 kilometers ) southwest of Camaguey , Cuba . It was moving northeast at about 7 mph and was expected to pass near Grand Cayman Friday night and approach the coast of central Cuba late Saturday , the hurricane center said . The storm 's projected path would steer it away from the U.S. mainland and into the Atlantic . See where the hurricane could be headed » . J.B. Webb , a manager at a radio station on Grand Cayman , said Friday evening that some residents had gone to shelters and others were shutting themselves in downtown businesses rebuilt to withstand a Category 5 hurricane . He said the local government had advised people to be off the roads by 11 a.m . The storm is expected to produce rainfall accumulations of 5 to 10 inches over the Caymans and central and eastern Cuba , with isolated maximum totals of 15 inches possible . Flash floods and mudslides are possible , forecasters said . Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles from the center , and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 120 miles , the hurricane center said . iReport.com : Are you in Paloma 's path ? Forecasters predicted storm-surge flooding of 5 to 7 feet above normal tide levels , accompanied by dangerous battering waves , near the center of Paloma in the Cayman Islands . Near where Paloma is expected to make landfall , along Cuba 's southern coast , storm surge flooding of 8 to 12 feet is forecast , the hurricane center said . Cuban television was broadcasting advisories to viewers , telling them not to cross swollen rivers , to avoid fallen cables and to evacuate if told to do so by Civil Defense officials . In Las Tunas , students in boarding schools were sent home , because the schools will be used as shelters . Evacuations were under way in some coastal areas prone to flooding . Rice and cereal was being shipped to other parts of the country to keep it from spoiling , and no tourists were being allowed to enter many areas . CNN 's Morgan Neill and Rory Suchet contributed to this report .
NEW : Cayman Island residents flee homes for shelters , fortified buildings . Comment: Evacuations under way in parts of Cuba ; safety advisories issued . Projected path would steer hurricane away from U.S. mainland .