At least nine people died in flash flooding across Jamaica as the storm began forming late Tuesday.

Cuba’s chief meteorologist, Jorge Rubiera, said that the storm produced top winds of only 37 mph and disagreed with the U.S. National Hurricane Center’s determination that Nicole was actually a tropical storm.

U.S. forecasters conceded that Nicole did have a poorly defined center of circulation and had been “a marginal system” during its brief life span.

What rain did fall across central Cuba was actually a blessing for farmers there who have endured a prolonged drought.

Nearly eight inches of rainfall in the province of Sancti Spiritus helped fill reservoirs and replenished groundwater, according to Cuban officials.

Tropical Storm Nicole Track

Radar Loop Data: NOAA