Hurricane Sandy, which made landfall early Thursday in Cuba, is heading for the central Bahamas, the National Hurricane Center, or NHC, said.

The hurricane blasted the eastern region of Cuba moving north.  The Cuban government evacuated several hundred tourists from beach resorts without incident.  It is expected that the hurricane and ensuing rains will negatively affect 200,000 people in the country the government predicted.

The Category 2 hurricane has maximum sustained winds of 165 kph (105 mph) and is moving north at 30 kph (18 mph), the NHC said.

The storm was about 215 kilometers (130 miles) south of Great Exuma in the central Bahamas and about 125 kilometers (75 miles) northeast of Holguin, Cuba at 8:00 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC), the NHC said.

“Gradual weakening is forecast over the next 48 hours. However ... Sandy is expected to remain a hurricane as it moves through the Bahamas,” the NHC said.