Cuba prepares for the arrival of the hurricane on Wednesday Rafaelpassed into category 3 and could become a “major hurricane” at the time of its impact in the west of the island.
“A rapid strengthening is planned and Rafael could reach the intensity of a major hurricane before making landfall in Cuba later in the day” on Wednesday, indicated the American Hurricane Center (NHC), in its latest bulletin from 7 a.m. local (12 p.m. GMT).
The Cuban Meteorological Institute (Insmet) confirmed on X that Rafael “will be very close to category 3 before its impact”, which should occur between the provinces of Pinar del Río and Artemisa, in the west of the country.
The hurricane was 260 km southeast of Havana and was moving with maximum winds of 160 km/hour, making it a category 2 hurricane (out of 5) on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
“Rafael has reached category 2” confirmed the official information portal Cubadebate.
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The arrival of the hurricane comes as the country is barely recovering from a giant power outage and the passage of the hurricane Oscar which left eight people dead two weeks ago.
Faced with this new threat, the Cuban authorities have increased calls for vigilance and preventive measures “to protect the population and safeguard material resources”.
On alert
Nine provinces (out of the country’s fifteen), located in the west and center of the island, including that of Havana, have been placed on “cyclonic alert”.
The Cuban presidency indicated Tuesday that the “National Defense Council”, made up of military personnel, had been “activated”. “In situations of exception and disaster”, he “runs the country and assumes the powers corresponding to the organs of the State, with the exception of the constituent power”, she added.
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Civil Defense called on Tuesday for an acceleration of prevention efforts, including the evacuation of vulnerable populations, as the hurricane could have consequences across the entire island.
According to local media, at least 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 Hurricane Oscar, and where rain continued to fall. this week, saturating the soil with water.
In Havana, where two million inhabitants live, brigades of workers carried out Tuesday the drainage of sewers, the collection of waste and the pruning of trees.
In the village of Alquizar, located about fifty km southwest of the capital, Liset Herrera, 57, complains of not having been “able to see the news because there is no electricity “. “But from what I saw on the phone (the hurricane) is getting closer to here,” she explains, saying she fears that after its passage “there will be nothing left here.”
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Further south, in the coastal village of Ganimar, Marisol Valle, a 63-year-old farmer, came to collect some things. “From what I see, there is not a soul” in the village where the inhabitants were evacuated. “No one stayed,” she notes.
Two weeks after Hurricane Oscar
Two weeks ago, Cuba had already been hit by Category 1 Hurricane Oscar, 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 of the electricity system remained “
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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 the passage of powerful Hurricane Ian which hit the west of the island.
