Western Cuba isn't nearly as mountainous as Eastern, and after it crosses there's a lot of warm water to spool the engine back up. That can happen pretty quickly.Ya, Cuba will knock it down a couple levels before it gets to FL But, still TONS AND TONS of rain and wind Tuesday through Thursday in S Florida for sure.
My grandfather and his brother were among the last people to leave Key Largo before the Labor Day 1935 storm hit, and they were the first ones to head back down after it passed. Fifty years later he still didn't want to talk about it much.