Nassau, Dhu-AlHijjah 18, 1436, October 2, 2015, SPA-- Hurricane Joaquin hit the Bahamas for a second day Friday, as the category-4 storm dropped heavy rains across its eastern and central islands, but forecasters shifted its likely path farther away from the U.S. east coast. Some people remain trapped in flooded homes, but no fatalities or injuries have been reported so far, according to the Bahamas National Emergency Management Agency. Officials said they lost communication with a few islands overnight, and power was knocked out in some areas. Officials asked Bahamians to remain alert as the slow-moving storm roared through the island chain, where schools, businesses, and government offices were closed. Joaquin had maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour (kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. The storm was located about 50 kilometers north-northwest of Long Island and was moving northwest near 6 kph. Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 85 kilometers. The NHC said parts of the Bahamas could see storm surge raising sea levels as much as 4 meters above normal, with 30 to 45 centimeters of rain falling the central Bahamas. Authorities in the nearby Turks & Caicos Islands closed all airports, schools, and government offices. The government of Cuba issued a tropical-storm warning for four eastern provinces. --SPA 19:37 LOCAL TIME 16:37 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w