Havana / Caracas / Mexico City /Cuba’s Meteorological Institute (Insmet) predicts that the passage of the powerful hurricane Beryl through the Caribbean Sea will cause effects in the coming days such as heavy rains and storm surges and coastal flooding in areas from the east to the west of the island.
Although Cuban meteorologists have ruled out a direct impact by the hurricane on the island’s territory, they have warned that from Wednesday onwards winds in the eastern region could reach sustained speeds of between 40 and 55 kilometres per hour with higher gusts.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel called on Cubans on social media to be “alert and prepared,” although Cuba “will not be directly impacted by the strong hurricane Beryl, but during its passage through the seas south of the Island we can feel some of its effects.”
“I ask our people to stay informed and follow the guidelines issued by Civil Defense,” he stressed.
“I ask our people to stay informed and follow the guidelines issued by Civil Defense,” he stressed.
The latest weather report from Insmet warns of showers, rain and some thunderstorms, which at the end of the afternoon and night of Wednesday may be strong in some localities, mainly in mountainous areas. In the rest of the archipelago, the morning will be light and cloudy, and from the end of the morning it will be cloudy in the centre with some showers and thunderstorms, which will spread to the west at night, mainly towards the south.
Beryl, the most intense hurricane to emerge in June during a cyclone season in the Atlantic Ocean, after reaching category 5 on Monday (the maximum on the Saffir-Simpson scale) has dropped to 4, while currently approaching the island of Jamaica (located about 381 kilometers south of the easternmost provinces of Cuba), according to the Insmet report.
Insmet insists that it is keeping a “close watch” on the evolution and trajectory of this tropical cyclone, which has left at least three dead in Venezuela.
The deaths are a result of a river overflowing at the Beryl River, which also caused the total loss of 400 homes, President Nicolás Maduro reported on Tuesday, who ordered “comprehensive and complete support” for the families.
According to the official report on the situation in a town in the state of Sucre, broadcast by the state channel VTV, there are four missing – two men and two women – and search efforts are underway.
According to official reports, four people have disappeared in a town in the state of Sucre – two men and two women – and search efforts are underway.
There are also 8,000 homes affected and some 80 families in “temporary shelter,” who are guaranteed “water, food, medicine, medical attention and everything else they need,” while two collection centers have been set up, Maduro said.
The president said that, after learning of the events in Sucre, he “immediately” sent the executive vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, who suffered “several serious blows” from a falling tree, although he assured that the official “is conscious” and “will recover.”
He also noted that the Ministers of Internal Affairs and Water Affairs, Remigio Ceballos and Rodolfo Marco Torres, respectively, were also injured by the fall of the tree, as well as the mayor of the Montes municipality, Tomás Bello, and the commander of the Strategic Region of Integral Defense (REDI) in the eastern region, Juan Sulbarán, who suffered a “severe fracture in one hand.”
“This accident could have been a serious and tragic event. Fortunately, God is with us, God put his hand on them and they are safe and sound,” he said.
On the other hand, the Chavista leader showed mocking messages about what happened to Rodríguez published on the social network X by “fascists”, and warned the people who made these comments that they will “remember” him.
“You’re going to have bad news, you’ll remember me, fascist,” Maduro told one of the users whose message was shown in the broadcast.
“You’re going to have bad news, you’ll remember me, fascist,” Maduro said to one of the users whose message was shown in the broadcast.
Beryl is now heading towards Mexico, where the National Meteorological Service (SMN) indicated that the hurricane was located at 18:00 local time 580 kilometers east-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and 1,695 km east-southeast of Cancún, Quintana Roo.
In addition, it had maximum sustained winds of 240 kilometers per hour (km/h) with gusts of 295 km/h and is moving west-northwest at 35 km/h.
Given these conditions, the Mexican Meteorological Service, in coordination with the United States National Hurricane Center, established a hurricane surveillance zone from Cabo Catoche to Chetumal, Quintana Roo.
The agency said that “for the moment, the system is not affecting Mexican coasts,” however, according to its trajectory “it is expected that starting Thursday, the cloud bands of Beryl will cause intense to torrential rains, strong gusts of wind and high waves in the Yucatan Peninsula.”
