SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba.- “Without electricity and without food”: this is how Santiago residents face the intense rains that have hit the eastern region since last Monday, due to the influence of a trough located north of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola.
Are precipitation They have been happening uninterruptedly since early this Tuesday morning, and they come along with a power outage that lasted more than 12 hours in several parts of Santiago de Cuba.
On the other hand, added to the inclement weather time there is a shortage, which becomes greater when water makes the transportation and sale of food impossible.
“I am stressed, unable to work, without anything in the cold and to top it off, without power. Where are we going to stop? Could it be that God has turned his back on us? asks Pedro, from the center of the city.
Regarding the electro-energy situation, this Tuesday the Electrical Union forecast an estimated impact of 1,440 MW during peak hours, similar to that of Monday. The oldest incidence It will be in the center and east, so almost half of the Island will once again be in blackout.
For Cubans it rains “in the wet” in every sense. Without paying attention to the continuous downpours, the people of Santiago take to the streets in search of food, but the few offers that are often available are not available today.
In Songo-La Maya, for example, where it also pours rain, “there was no bread in the morning, because there was no current at 12:00 am. until 1:00 pm, there is no chicken in the MSMEsno pork, nor are there any beans. Just minced meat,” said Yosiel Matos, when he returned from the market this morning.
“As I saw that it wasn’t clearing, I went out to look for the main course for lunch. I went by the bakery before, but there was nothing. So I went to several MSMEs to see if they had chicken, but no. I had to buy two pounds of ground beef, which was more water than anything else,” he told CubaNet.
Due to the incidence of weather phenomena, classes were suspended throughout the country until further notice and several provinces have also activated the Defense Tipsto mitigate the effects.
In this regard, simultaneous evacuation protocols are implemented in areas with danger of flooding and to ensure State resources.
But what measures have been taken to guarantee food supplies to the population?
According to Gustavo Alvarez Matoshead of the Provincial Civil Defense Body in Santiago de Cuba, due to this contingency, “the harvest, collection and marketing of agricultural products is carried out quickly, and the sale of processed foods to citizens continues, as well as the unloading, loading and distribution of the regulated family basket, which is sold in the warehouses.”
However, reality denies such statements, because these days only rice and peas have been sold to the population in Santiago wineries.
Precisely, María Emilia Montes, from the Chicharrones cast, says she is “fed up with peas.” Between yesterday and today, in the rain, he has gone to the warehouse several times to check if anything new arrived, but nothing upstairs.
“We are starving. Imagine it’s my husband and I, living off retirement. Right now my 5-year-old granddaughter is with us and I don’t even have milk to give her. I have gone to the warehouse about 10 times to see if a condensed milk module has arrived for children from 2 to 6 years old, which they reported they would sell, but it has not arrived yet,” lamented the 63-year-old woman.
