When Saraís González woke up on Thursday, she knew she was much poorer than she had been just the day before. The powerful impact of Hurricane Rafael as it swept through Alquízar, her town in western Cuba, on Wednesday afternoon had destroyed the roofs of her kitchen, bathroom, and one room in her house.
“What we lived through yesterday was horrifying — hours of uncertainty and terror,” she told EL PAÍS. “My baby cried inconsolably. We were huddled in one room and then had to move into the closet, while my husband took shelter under the bed. That’s where we stayed for hours as the wind roared around us. When I woke up, it was heartbreaking to see how misery engulfs us, on top of the struggles we already face.”
Nearly 24 hours after Rafael swept through Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane, the full extent of the devastation in the western part of the country remains unclear. Many areas are still completely isolated after the state-owned power company Unión Eléctrica announced on Wednesday afternoon, hours before the hurricane’s arrival, that the national power grid had been completely disconnected.
The storm made landfall at Playa Majana, about 47 miles (75 kilometers) southwest of Havana, just after 4 p.m., with winds reaching up to 115 mph (185 kilometers per hour). By 7 p.m., it had passed through the island near Bahía de Cabañas as a Category 2 storm. The was enough time to leave behind a trail of destruction.
Cuba’s Ministry of Energy and Mines acknowledged that restoring electricity in western Cuba will be a “slow process.” However, despite only piecemeal reports, some images and videos circulating on social media reveal the scale of the disaster: fallen trees, flooding from storm surges and heavy rains, and structural collapses. Several residents in the southern province of Artemisa say they have lost the roofs of their homes. Much of the power infrastructure has been severely damaged, exacerbating a network recently hit by a wave of massive blackouts. The town of Jibacoa, located in the center of the country, has been cut off by heavy rains. Thousands of people have been evacuated.
Cuban authorities, however, assure that the natural disaster did not result in any fatalities. President Miguel Díaz-Canel posted on X that the government has allocated resources for recovery efforts in the provinces of Artemisa, Havana, and Mayabeque.
This year’s hurricane season has been especially devastating for Cuba. Hurricane Rafael struck just two weeks after Oscar, which hit the eastern part of the island on October 20, with winds reaching 80 mph (130 kilometers per hour). Residents in areas such as Imías, Maisí, Baracoa, and San Antonio del Sur — already struggling from a nationwide blackout that left the entire country without power for more than three days from October 18 to 22 — were caught off guard by Oscar’s arrival and saw the devastation play out before their eyes: swollen rivers, over 30,000 evacuations, massive material losses, and at least 20 people missing, though the official toll cites eight fatalities.
Several Cuban exile groups that had been sending supplies after the damage from Oscar are now redoubling their efforts to help mitigate the destruction caused by Rafael. Various governments and international organizations have also pledged support. Canada announced a donation of $400,000 for water, sanitation, and hygiene services, as well as relief supplies. The Mexican company Richmeat contributed 100 tons of meat to help feed families affected by Oscar. UNICEF sent 1,498 kilograms (about 3,300 pounds) of medical supplies to the island, and the World Food Program (WFP) committed to supplying technical equipment and food modules.
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Publish date : 2024-11-07 18:56:00
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