i just looked at a topograpy map
high mountains in Central America
i still think that it could hit as a tropical storm and regenerate as a TS again in the Caribbean, because in 1998 Mitch hit as a barely Cat I and moved VERY slowly over the mountains for 5 days, and still managed to regenerate as a tropcial storm
this is expected to be a tad weaker, but it will be moving much faster

I am making an official forecast on this:
Landfall 75-80 mph intensity, and about 24 hours after getting into the Caribbean, it will probably strengthen to a TS, probably a hybrid system as Mitch did in 1998 (look for it to possibly be classified as a subtropical storm there)

as for the easterly flow, the low in the Caribbean we have had there the last few days has probably had some influence of weakening the easterly flow