Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Paloma strengthened into a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of about 145 miles (230 kilometers) an hour as it approaches Cuba, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Paloma's center was moving northeast at about 10 mph, the agency said in an update at 4 p.m. Miami time. It was located 75 miles (120 kilometers) south-southwest of Camaguey, Cuba, and about 70 miles northwest of Cabo Cruz.

Paloma is expected to keep traveling east-northeast through tomorrow, according to the center. It may approach the coast of south-central Cuba late tonight. The island nation is still recovering from the impact of hurricanes Ike and Gustav.

The Cuban government issued a hurricane warning for the central provinces of Ciego de Avila, Camaguey, Las Tunas, Granma, and Holguin, meaning sustained winds of 74 mph or more are expected in those areas within 24 hours, according to the center. Residents were urged to rush preparations to protect lives and property.

The government of Cayman Islands has dropped a hurricane warning for Grand Cayman. Warnings for Little Cayman and Cayman Brac remain in effect, although they may be discontinued tonight, the center said.

Cuba

Cuba ``will be devastated if it hits in the east,'' said Robert I. Rotberg, an author of books on Africa and the Caribbean and a professor of public policy at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ``It will destroy sugar.''

The storm may drop as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain on Cuba, the center said. Jamaica may receive as much as 3 inches of rain from the storm. Floods as high as 23 feet are expected when Paloma makes landfall in Cuba.

``Paloma continues to strengthen and now appears to be doing so at a quicker pace,'' hurricane specialists Eric Blake and James Franklin of the hurricane center wrote in an earlier statement.

Paloma was designated a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of almost 115 mph shortly before 7 p.m. Miami time last night. Earlier, the hurricane's winds were clocked at 75 mph.

Travel Alert

The U.S. State Department issued a travel alert, warning Americans to ``consider carefully the risks of travel to areas that may be affected'' by Paloma, and to consider leaving if they don't have adequate shelter, according to a statement.

The hurricane made the anticipated turn northeast around the northwestern edge of a subtropical ridge located across Jamaica and southern Hispaniola.

Hurricane Ike, which made landfall in eastern Cuba as a Category 3 storm in early September, killed four and prompted Cuban authorities to evacuate as many as 2 million people, or almost a fifth of the population. In late August, Hurricane Gustav hit the island with 150 mph winds, forcing evacuations.

Sugar is Cuba's top industry and its biggest commodities export, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook. An estimated 386,967 acres (156,600 hectares) of sugar cane were flattened in the earlier storms, Reuters reported in September.

16th Storm

AccuWeather.com meteorologist Dale Mohler said Paloma should miss petroleum refineries in the Gulf of Mexico and in Saint Croix. The Gulf is home to about one-quarter of U.S. oil production.

The center's five-day projection shows Paloma crossing central Cuba and then moving over the central Bahamas and toward the open Atlantic Ocean early next week.

Paloma is the 16th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. Colorado State University researchers projected at least 17 major storms, including nine hurricanes, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center said there would be 14 to 18 named storms.

Hurricanes Bertha, Gustav, Ike and Omar reached major hurricane status of at least Category 3, with winds greater than 110 mph.

To contact the reporters on this story: Gregory Viscusi in Paris at gviscusi@bloomberg.net; Dan Hart in Washington at dahart@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 8, 2008 17:31 EST