MIAMI, United States. – The General Staff of the Civil Defense announced that, starting at 3:00 pm this Monday, the Alert Phase will be established for the provinces of Matanzas, Mayabeque, Havana, Artemisa, Pinar del Río and the special Isla municipality of Youth, given the possibility of being directly affected by the potential Hurricane Rafael.
According to information from the Forecast Center of the Institute of Meteorology (INSMET), tropical depression number 18 of the current cyclonic season has improved its organization. Currently, it is located south of Jamaica and is heading north at a travel speed of 15 km/h.
The Civil Defense warned that the meteorological phenomenon “will gain more organization and intensity and in the next few hours it is expected to become a tropical storm, which could later reach the category of hurricane.”
Due to the wide circulation of this phenomenon, “starting this afternoon/night, rains, showers and thunderstorms will begin in the central and western regions,” the entity reported. Meanwhile, in the eastern region, which is in the Information Phase, rains will persist, which may be strong and intense in some locations.
This Sunday, the provinces of Guantánamo, Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Granma and Las Tunas were declared in the Information Phase due to a trough that “has associated strong nuclei with activity of showers, rains and thunderstorms” near the eastern end of the country, according to the entity.
Hours later, The Information Phase was extended to the remaining provincesfrom Camagüey to Pinar del Río, including the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud.
The Civil Defense advised the population to continue paying attention to the behavior of the rains associated with this event and, according to the particular situation, take the necessary measures to protect people and resources.
INSMET highlighted this Monday that tropical depression number 18 has “sufficient conditions for its development,” due to high sea temperatures and atmospheric humidity.
If it materializes, as the forecast models indicate, it would be the eighteenth cyclone of the current season in the Atlantic and would be named Rafael. Its planned trajectory would first approach the south of the central and eastern regions of Cuba, and then impact the western area.
“Regardless of its evolution and future trajectory, due to its proximity to the national territory, the areas of showers, rains and thunderstorms will increase in the central and western regions of our country,” warned the Civil Defense.
This situation is especially worrying in eastern Cuba, recently affected by the Hurricane Oscar and subsequent rains that have saturated the soils and raised the level of the reservoirs.
Meteorologists had anticipated that the current cyclone season, valid until the end of November, would be “very active”, with the possible formation of 20 tropical storms, of which at least 11 could become hurricanes, given the favorable conditions in the region.
In addition to Oscar, which left eight dead in the eastern region of the country, Cuba has experienced damage from hurricanes Helene and Milton, although their centers did not touch the island and the damage was minor compared to events in previous years.
