Tourists evacuated from beach resorts near Santiago before arrival of storm that has killed two in Caribbean

Hurricane Sandy has made landfall west of Santiago de Cuba in southern Cuba, where residents boarded over windows and cleared drainage gutters in preparation for the strengthening storm that has killed two people in the Caribbean.

The US national hurricane centre said the storm hit Cuba with maximum sustained winds of 114mph and was moving north. Sandy is expected to remain a hurricane as it moves over Cuba and the Bahamas.

The 18th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season is expected to pass to the west of the US naval base at Cuba's Guantánamo Bay. Officials said there was no threat to the 166 prisoners. Sandy might bring tropical storm conditions along the south-east Florida coast by Friday morning.

Cuba's communist government, known for its quick response to natural disasters, announced the evacuation of about 450 tourists from beach resorts near Santiago, according to Cuban state media, though hotel workers said they were not expecting major problems.

The US hurricane centre said Sandy was expected to produce total rainfall of six to 12 inches across Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and eastern Cuba. "These rains may produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, especially in areas of mountainous terrain," the centre said.

In Manzanillo, a city of 132,000, people said they were worried about the impact, particularly after a wet summer that left sub-soils saturated. "Given the condition of my house, I don't know if it will withstand the force of a hurricane, but we are prepared," said Emiliano Lopez, 62, who lives near Manzanillo's seaside boulevard.

In Santiago, Cuba's second largest city, tourist hotels prepared by getting generators ready and closing off some outdoor spaces and pools. "We're well prepared for the storm," said Mayte Cuesta, an employee of the Hotel Melia Santiago. "It will affect us, but we don't think there is any danger."

As Sandy crossed over Jamaica on Wednesday an elderly man was killed by a boulder that crashed into his house, police said. In south-west Haiti, a woman died in the town of Camp Perrin after she was swept away by a river she was trying to cross, said Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, head of the country's civil protection office.

Jamaican authorities closed the island's international airports and police ordered 48-hour curfews in large towns to keep people off the streets and deter looting. Cruise ships changed their itineraries to avoid the storm, which made landfall on Wednesday afternoon near the capital, Kingston.

In some southern towns in Jamaica, several crocodiles were caught in rushing floodwaters that carried them out of their homes in mangrove thickets. One big crocodile took up temporary residence in a family's front yard in the city of Portmore.