Hurricane Rafael left a trail of destruction and a total blackout in western Cuba after passing through on Wednesday night. We offer you videos and several photos of the cyclone as it passes through the western portion of the island.
With a Category 3 power, Rafael hit the Caribbean island causing serious damage to several towns before moving towards the southeast of the Gulf of Mexico, according to the latest report from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) of the United States.
Rafael made landfall on Majana Beach, in the province of Artemisa, where it remained for two and a half hours, causing devastation with its hurricane-force winds and intense rains.
After crossing the region, the cyclone lost some strength, leaving Cuban territory as a category 2 hurricane.
However, the intensity of its winds left the island without electricity service, according to the Unión Eléctrica in a statement. The outage was due to the disconnection of the national electrical system due to the departure of generators and failures in the transmission lines.
Destruction in affected communities
In the quiet rural town of Candelaria, 40 kilometers from the coast, residents woke up to debris and branches scattered across the streets.
The wind tore tiles and concrete from the facades of some houses, destroying the roofs of numerous homes. Marta León Castro, 57, is one of those affected who lost her roof. “I’m desperate, the roof is gone and I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said through tears as she nervously walked down the street.
Neighbors had attempted to protect their homes, reinforcing doors and windows with boards, and some even secured their roofs with cables or sandbags. However, the impact was too strong for the fragile structures, and on Marta’s block at least five families were left homeless.
Evacuations and security measures
In Artemisa, as well as in Pinar del Río, thousands of people were evacuated, including 21,000 in Pinar del Río. These evacuations were necessary to protect residents from possible flooding and structural damage caused by the cyclone.
This event comes just two weeks after the passage of Storm Oscar, which left a deep scar in the east of the island, particularly affecting the municipalities of San Antonio del Sur and Imías, in Guantánamo, where eight deaths were reported due to the floods.
Paralysis in Havana and stranded tourists
In Havana, the capital of Cuba, strong winds and rain caused the suspension of activities. The authorities closed businesses and gas stations, while the streets were practically deserted. The airports in Havana and Varadero also stopped operations, leaving tourists stranded in hotels, some of whom gathered by candlelight as they waited for the storm to calm.
The situation led to the interruption of public transport and classes in several western provinces, affecting the daily lives of millions of people.
Energy and economic crisis
Cuba already had a deficit in electricity generation that, aggravated by this climatic event, leaves the country in a state of emergency. Since the massive September 2022 blackout caused by Hurricane Ian, the island has faced frequent power outages. The electricity situation worsens in a context of food and medicine shortages, added to uncontrolled inflation that aggravates the most severe economic crisis in three decades.
This gallery of images reflects the devastating impact of Rafael in western Cuba, from streets covered in debris to homes without roofs, showing the resistance of Cubans in the face of adversity and the magnitude of the challenges left by this powerful hurricane.
Photos of the cyclone
#western #Cuba #looked #Hurricane #Rafael
what is the domain of this url: www.example.com/home.html www home.html www.example.com html
It appears you have shared a series of HTML image tags related to photos documenting the aftermath of a cyclone in western Cuba, including various formats and sources for optimizing image loading.
If you need assistance with HTML formatting, web design concepts, or another topic related to these images, please specify how I can help!
