Tropical Storm Rafael, which is heading towards Cuba, is now considered a hurricane, the US Hurricane Center (NHC) announced on Tuesday.
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The hurricane is expected to make landfall on Wednesday in western Cuba, which is barely recovering from a giant power outage and the passage two weeks ago of Hurricane Oscar which left eight people dead.
Faced with the threat, the Cuban authorities have increased preventive measures and calls for vigilance, particularly in the west of the country.
“The Council of Ministers, chaired by President Miguel Diaz-Canel and led by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, verified with each of the provinces on cyclone alert the measures taken” to deal with the hurricane, the Cuban presidency indicated on x.
During the meeting, the governors of the six western provinces, including that of Havana, placed on “cyclonic alert” since Monday, shared “the measures taken to protect the population and safeguard material resources.”
The presidency also indicated that the “National Defense Council”, made up of military personnel, “was activated” on Tuesday afternoon. “In exceptional and disaster situations, the National Defense Council directs the country and assumes the powers corresponding to the state organs, with the exception of the constituent power,” she added.
Chronic deficits
The Civil Defense staff called on Tuesday for an acceleration of prevention efforts, including the evacuation of vulnerable populations, as the hurricane could have consequences on the entire island.
According to local media, more than 70,000 Cubans have been evacuated to date in several provinces of the country, including more than 66,000 in Guantanamo (east), the province most affected by the hurricane. Oscarand where the rain continued to fall this week, saturating the soil with water.
In Havana, where two million inhabitants live, brigades of workers carried out on Tuesday the drainage of sewers, the collection of waste, the pruning of trees, as well as the neutralization of gas stations and fires. traffic located in flood-prone areas of the capital.
Two weeks ago, Cuba had already been hit by the hurricane Oscarcategory 1, which hit the far east of the island on October 20 before transforming into a tropical storm.
Severe flooding surprised residents of two locations in Guantanamo, San Antonio del Sur and Imias, where eight people died.
Oscar came while the island was suffering a general blackout. For four days, the island’s 10 million residents were without power due to a giant blackout that broke out on October 18 following fuel shortages and a breakdown at the main power plant. of the country.
On Thursday, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, acknowledged that the situation with the electricity system remains “tense” on the island. Since the giant blackout, the country has suffered numerous power cuts due to chronic electricity production deficits.
In September 2022, the island had already experienced a widespread power outage after Hurricane Ian hit the west of the island. Full restoration of electricity took several days in Havana and several weeks in areas affected by the hurricane.
Cuba is facing its worst economic crisis in thirty years. Power cuts are compounded by shortages of food, medicine, fuel and galloping inflation.
