Two days after the Hurricane Melissa crossed eastern Cuba, thousands of people continued to be evacuated because the Cauto Basin faces a critical flood point.
Dozens of Granma towns are being evacuated to Las Tunas, a mobilization that is carried out “urgently” and that between last night and early today involved residents of communities such as Cauto Embarcadero, in the Río Cauto municipality.
Between 5,000 and 7,000 people are expected to arrive in Las Tunas from both the Cauto pier and Melones, Cayama and other towns, he noted. a post shared by journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso, from Cuban television. “The transfer of families to the “Manifiesto de Montecristi” Polytechnic is coordinated.
According to this information, the Cauto Basin faces its critical point for flooding, a “complex phenomenon where intense rains, the release of dams, runoff from the Sierra Maestra and the dangerous penetration of the sea that blocks the mouth converge.”
The maximum risk is reached up to 72 hours after the rains stop, when the accumulated flow reaches the lower municipalities. The authorities warn the population about the extreme danger and urge them not to return home prematurely.
In the last few hours, several rescues have been reported in communities in areas of eastern Cuba, where dozens of people have been left incommunicado for hours due to flooding, and without electricity service. Among them, there have been children, the elderly and quite a few sick people.
According to the Institute of Meteorology, in just 15 hours Melissa left up to 400 millimeters of water (or liters per square meter) in six locations, between 200 and 300 millimeters in twelve locations and more than 100 millimeters in 72 locations.
Mainly, due to the forecast of intense rains, some 735 thousand people were evacuated or protected in the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Holguín, Las Tunas and Camagüey.
