Hurricane Paula charged toward western Cuba and its lush tobacco fields today, threatening to inundate an area still recovering from three major hurricanes in 2008. Officials took heart that the storm was weakening and becoming less defined. It's expected hit tonight or early tomorrow.
A tropical storm watch extending for about a 100-mile stretch of the middle and lower Florida Keys remains in effect even though no US landfall is forecast at this time. Mexican authorities said American Mickey Goodwin of Corpus Christi, Texas, drowned yesterday in Cancun after he ignored warnings and red flags alerting to dangerous waters, the only fatality reported so far. (More hurricane stories.)