The provinces of Ciego de Ávila and Sancti Spíritus are in the alert phase.
MIAMI, United States. – The National Civil Defense Staff declared the “cyclonic alarm phase” for Guantánamo, Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Granma, Las Tunas and Camagüey starting at 9:00 a.m. this Monday. Likewise, he indicated that Ciego de Ávila and Sancti Spíritus would enter the “alert phase” due to the advance of Hurricane Melissa, which reached category 5 with maximum winds of 260 km/h.
The entity also directed to activate defense councils with a reduced composition in Cienfuegos, Villa Clara, Matanzas, Mayabeque, Havana, Artemisa, Pinar del Río and in the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud.
“The population is encouraged to stay informed about the development of this system, through the national media and official social media profiles, and to disciplinedly comply with the instructions given by local authorities and Civil Defense,” the entity requested.
The United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) indicated at 11:00 am this Monday that Melissa was a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with maximum sustained winds of 270 km/h and minimum central pressure of 908 hectopascals. According to the scientific entity, at that time it was located 530 km southwest of Guantánamo and was moving at 6 km/h.
“The core of Melissa is expected to move over Jamaica tonight and early Tuesday, across southeastern Cuba Tuesday night, and across the southeastern Bahamas on Wednesday,” the HHC said.
Furthermore, the agency further warned that “preparations to protect life and property must be complete in Jamaica and expedited in Cuba.”
Rainfall totals of 15 to 20 inches, with higher local accumulations, capable of causing life-threatening flash flooding and numerous landslides, are forecast in the eastern part of Cuba, and there is “potential for significant storm surge along the southeast coast of Cuba late Tuesday or Wednesday,” with maximum heights “of 7 to 11 feet above normal tide levels,” accompanied of “large and destructive waves,” the NHC said.
Meanwhile, the Forecast Center of the Cuban Meteorological Institute (INSMET) advance For the next 24 hours, Melissa will turn “to the north and northeast”, with transit through “the seas south of Jamaica” and approach from Tuesday to the national territory through the seas south of the eastern region of Cuba, where “the meteorological conditions will progressively deteriorate.”
He also indicated that the external bands will increase cloudiness and precipitation in eastern Cuba, “which may become strong in some localities, mainly in mountainous areas,” and that “strong swells will continue in the seas south of the provinces of Granma and Santiago de Cuba with light flooding in low areas of this coastline.”
Until now, the Cuban authorities have ordered the evacuation and protection of almost 650,000 people in the eastern provinces. The Ministry of Education suspended school activities and the Ministry of Transportation canceled bus trips, interprovincial trains and flights to and from Santiago de Cuba and Holguín.
The EFE news agency remembered that at the end of September, tropical storm Imelda caused two deaths in the east of the island, thousands of displaced people, floods, landslides, overflowing rivers and house collapses. In 2024, hurricanes Oscar (category 1, in October, in the East) and Rafael (category 3, in November, in the West) directly impacted the country.
