Cuba prepares for the arrival of Hurricane Rafael, two weeks after Oscar

Cuba is preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Rafael, which is expected to hit the island on Wednesday, November 6, while the country is barely recovering from a gigantic electrical blackout and the passage of another hurricane, Oscar, which left eight dead.

“A maximum sustained wind at a speed of 70 knots [130 kilomètres/heure] with gusts up to 85 knots [157 km/h] »announced the American Hurricane Center (NHC), on Wednesday, November 6 at 4 a.m. (Paris time). The center of the hurricane is located 40 kilometers west of the island of Little Cayman, in the Caribbean Sea, and 430 kilometers from Havana, the US agency added.

Earlier, the NHC warned that the tropical storm, which is heading towards western Cuba, could become a category 1 hurricane (out of 5), or even higher, on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Faced with the threat, Cuban authorities have increased calls for surveillance and preventive measures “protect the population and safeguard material resources”. Nine provinces (of the country’s fifteen), located in the west and center of the island, including Havana, have been placed in “cyclonic alert”.

The Cuban presidency declared on Tuesday afternoon that the “national defense council”formed by soldiers, had been “activated”. “In situations of exception and disaster, the national defense council directs the country and assumes the powers corresponding to the organs of the State, with the exception of the constituent power”he added.

At least 70,000 Cubans evacuated

Civil Defense called on Tuesday to accelerate prevention efforts, including the evacuation of vulnerable populations, as the hurricane could have consequences throughout the 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 Guantánamo (East), the province most affected by Hurricane Oscar, category 1, and where rain continued to fall this week. , saturating the soil with water.

Serious floods surprised the inhabitants of two towns in Guantánamo, San Antonio del Sur and Imías, where eight people died. Oscar arrived while the island was suffering a general blackout. For four days, the island’s 10 million inhabitants were left without electricity due to a gigantic blackout that occurred on October 18 following a fuel shortage and a breakdown at the country’s main power plant.

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 traffic lights located in flood-prone areas of the capital. .

On Thursday, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, acknowledged that the situation of the electrical system remains “tense” on the island. Since the gigantic blackout, the country has suffered numerous power outages due to chronic electricity production deficits.

In September 2022, the island had already experienced widespread power outages following Hurricane Ian, which hit the west of the island. Cuba is facing its most serious economic crisis in thirty years. Power outages are exacerbated by shortages of food, medicine, fuel and rampant inflation.