Hora remained for more than 24 hours on the island / Photo: Courtesy
At least six people died this Monday due to heavy rains and flooding caused by the passage of Tropical Storm Óscar through the northeastern corner of Cuba, the Civil Defense reported.
The head of the Operations Department of the General Staff of the Civil Defense, Argenis Perales Pérez, explained that the deaths occurred in the municipality of San Antonio del Sur, in the province of Guantánamo (east), without providing more details of the event.
Óscar, which entered Cuba as a category 1 hurricane (out of 5) on the Saffir-Simpson scale on Sunday afternoon, spent just over 24 hours on the island, accompanied by strong winds, intense rain and storm surge.
According to the Institute of Meteorology (Insmet), it made landfall near Baracoa at 6:10 p.m. local time on Sunday and left Cuban territory near Gibara around 7:20 p.m. local time on Monday.
Along the way, Óscar has left strong winds in Cuba, up to 130 kilometers per hour; intense rains, with accumulations of up to 300 millimeters in 24 hours; and storm surges that have caused unprecedented penetrations in some coastal cities such as Baracoa.
However, his passage through Cuba has significantly weakened Óscar, which is currently accompanied by winds of between 30 and 45 kilometers per hour. The rains and thunderstorms from this phenomenon will continue to affect the Caribbean island in the coming hours, especially in mountainous areas, according to Insmet.
The evacuees number in the thousands and are numerous – still to be evaluated – in public infrastructure, housing and agriculture, especially coffee.
Óscar is the fifteenth tropical storm of the current hurricane season in the Atlantic and the first to make landfall in Cuba.
The US and Cuban meteorological services warned months ago that this Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, was going to be especially active.
The last time a major hurricane hit Cuba was in September 2017 when Irma moved parallel to the island’s northern coast and caused ten deaths and material losses officially valued at $13.185 million.
Havana / EFE
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