SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, Mexico.- In a preliminary account of the damage caused by the tropical storm Oscarwhich is currently located about 75 kilometers northwest of Guantanamo, Cuban authorities estimate that more than 1,000 homes suffered damage of varying magnitude.
According to what was revealed on social networks of the Presidency of Cuba after a “check-up meeting” in which the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel participated, the regime stated that the greatest damage is in the municipalities of Baracoa, Imías, Maisí, where the big floods.
“Covered crop houses, homes, workplaces, power lines, and plantations have suffered damage caused by Oscar’s heavy rains and winds,” local media announced.
The Cuban journalist Miguel Reyes left on his Facebook site “Miguel Noticias” images of the Municipal Hospital of Baracoa where the destruction left in its wake by the then hurricane could be seen. Destroyed ceilings and flooded rooms of the hospital are the traces of the impact of the meteorological phenomenon.
The La Farola viaduct, which links the municipalities of Imías and Baracoa, suffered a landslide that blocked access in some sections, according to the official media. Cubadebate.
Images published on social networks show rock and earth slides and a large number of trees lying on the road.
The hurricane Oscar The eastern end of Cuba made landfall in Baracoa this Sunday with winds of 130 kilometers per hour and intense rains.
Later converted into a tropical storm, it remained practically motionless over that region, aggravating the risk of flooding, especially in the province of Guantánamo.
At the momentthe meteorological event is located about 75 km northwest of Guantánamo, with maximum sustained winds of 65 km/h.
The eastern provinces are expected to experience tropical storm force winds, and strong storm surges on the northern coast of Guantánamo, Holguín and Las Tunas, where there may be light to moderate coastal flooding in low-lying areas, including the Baracoa seawall.
The United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) emphasized that a turn in the storm’s movement toward the northwest and north is expected later, followed by a faster movement toward the northeast on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Oscar arrived in Cuba when the country was going through one of the most serious blackouts experienced in recent days.
The first total blackout occurred last Friday shortly after 11:00 am, after the “unforeseen” shutdown of the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Power Plant in Matanzas.
The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, detailed in an interview with the portal of the Presidency of Cuba that already achieved supply in the western zone thanks to sources such as Energás Boca de Jaruco, the lakes rented to the Turkish company Karadeniz Holding in the Bay of Havana and the Mariel generation plants.
He also reported that the Nuevitas 5 unit has already synchronized, which will improve supply in the eastern region, affected since Sunday night by the tropical storm.
