we now have patrick oppmann, he is in havana, where this storm has slammed into. . it was clear skies this morning. haven't felt a drop of rain. then one of these bands came through as it did and knocked over our equipment, knocked us off the air. absolutely soaked me. and we are on the outer edges of this. the storm passed the west of cuba. i don't believe it ever actually made landfall as a tropical storm. all the same. no cuban officials evacuated 8,000 people from low lying area. we saw heavy flooding in these areas. and as i was just telling you, i thought we weren't going to get a rain drop on us all morning. it looked absolutely clear and then just out of nowhere this band came n absolutely soaked us. knocked over our tripods. we had to take shelter. the storm came by the west of cuba, as it gets into the gulf, historically warm waters and continue to pick up for us. so it's something that people really need to be careful about. again, i just thought that we weren't going to get anything all day and a band of rain and wind came through. we're on the outskirt

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we have cnn's patrick oppmann with us following this story. patrick, we saw there what happened. tell us what you've seen, what you're seeing. >> reporter: well, a glancing blow across the western tip of cuba but still leaving plenty of pain. if you get flooding in your house, if you have trees or electric poles go down near you, it certainly feels like a direct hit. and of course idalia hit here last night as a tropical storm and this morning became a category 1 hurricane. far less powerful than what floridians are facing, but it caused flooding all across the western part of cuba here. in havana we've had heavy rain throughout the morning. it's mostly clear now and the cuban government says they are beginning the process of seeing who has been affected, seeing what communities are still cut off. beginning of course the arduous process, the long process of restoring power. you have tens of thousands of people to the west of where i am who are going to be without power. and brianna, these are still the same people who are recovering from hurricane ian last year. this is a hard-hi

someone who is experiencing some of those outer bands this morning is patrick oppmann in havana cuba, experienced some of this storm as a tropical storm. you just -- you got knocked off the air earlier today because of one of those bands coming in. tell us what happened. tell us how powerful it was. >> reporter: you know, right where i am behind me in old havana. i don't think i need to put on my raincoat this morning. the skies were clear. you didn't feel the slightest bit of wind. then all of a sudden one of the outer bands of this storm came, knocked over our tripod, knocked over our lights. we had to come and take refuge inside of this building behind me. and so just can change absolutely in a minute. we all got soaked. and now you're seeing people struggling to get to work. people having trouble driving on the streets. and again, we're on the edge of this storm. it did not make landfall in cuba. it skirted the western most co coast. florida, people need to make preparations and take care. even on the outer edge of this storm, you could have a wind gust come in. we have seen trees