Provincial authorities have classified the situation as “high risk” and predict that the water level will continue to rise.
LIMA, Peru – “Massively evacuate the inhabitants” is the peremptory order that the Cuban regime gave in several towns in Granma in the face of “the critical situation” and the floods generated by Hurricane Melissa.
A report from the official telecenter CNC TV Granma reports that the Provincial Defense Council in that territory together with members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) activated this Saturday “an emergency operation” in the Grito de Yara and Río Cauto communities.
Provincial authorities have classified the situation as “high risk” and predict that the water level will continue to rise in the coming days.
“The situation will become difficult as the days go by,” the report highlights.
The state media warns that the military deployment and evacuation include within its plan a land and river operation, as well as aerial actions.
“Army amphibious units will be in charge of accessing the most affected areas to extract people and transfer them to safe points on the main road, from where they will be collected and taken to shelters,” the aforementioned operation points out.
On the other hand, the regime assures that several helicopters have been “exclusively assigned” to carry out rescue and rescue missions from the air, with special attention to homes isolated by the flood.
The Provincial Defense Council recommended that the population immediately go to the high areas previously identified by the authorities; that they make visible signals to be quickly identified by helicopters; and that they comply without delay with the evacuation instructions so that the operations conclude within the established deadline, which expires this Saturday.
Hurricane Melissa: devastating phenomenon
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) warned that around 700,000 people in Cuba, more than 7% of the population, require urgent humanitarian assistance after the devastating passing of Hurricane Melissa. The agency noted that the cyclone left serious damage to homes, crops and basic supply networks.
According to explained the WFP to the EFE agency, Half of those affected will need support for at least three months, while the rest may require support for six months or more.
Hurricane Melissa—a system that entered eastern Cuba as a category three hurricane, after having reached category four as it passed through Jamaica—hit the eastern region from early morning until the morning of Wednesday, October 29.
Although the authorities have not yet published an exhaustive official report of the damage, multiple images and testimonies have been released showing destroyed homes, entire communities flooded, people who have lost everyone, and entire areas cut off.
The rainfall was extraordinary: accumulations of up to 500 mm were recorded in mountainous areas, storm surges that raised the sea level between 2.5 and 3.7 meters above normal on the southeastern coast, and wind gusts that exceeded 190 km/h at the time of impact.
The magnitude of the phenomenon and the lack of communication generate a scenario of high vulnerability, in which the most affected communities await urgent and transparent assistance.
