Cuba prepares for the arrival of “Rafael”, which could become a “major hurricane”

Photo: Yamil Lage Agence France-Presse A dog rests in an empty street due to the evacuation ahead of the arrival of tropical storm “Rafael” in Guanimar, Artemisa province, Cuba, November 5, 2024.

Jordane Bertrand – Agence France-Presse in Havana

Posted at 9:20 a.m.

• Americas

Cuba is bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Rafael on Wednesday, which has been downgraded to Category 2 and could become a “major hurricane” when it hits the west of the island.

“Rapid strengthening is expected and Rafael could reach major hurricane intensity before making landfall in Cuba later in the day” on Wednesday, the U.S. Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest bulletin at 7 a.m. local time.

The Cuban Meteorological Institute (Insmet) confirmed on X that Rafael“will be very close to Category 3 before its impact,” which is expected to occur between the provinces of Pinar del Rio and Artemisa, in the west of the country.

The hurricane was located 260 km southeast of Havana and was progressing with maximum winds of 160 km/h, making it a Category 2 hurricane (out of 5) on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

“Rafael has reached Category 2,” the official news portal Cubadebate confirmed.

The arrival of the hurricane comes at a time when the country is still recovering from a massive power outage and the passage of the hurricane Oscar which left eight dead two weeks ago.

Faced with this new threat, the Cuban authorities have increased calls for vigilance and preventive measures “to protect the population and safeguard material resources.”

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Nine provinces (out of the country's fifteen), located in the west and center of the island, including Havana, have been placed on “cyclone alert.”

The Cuban presidency indicated on Tuesday that the “National Defense Council,” made up of military personnel, had been “activated.” “In exceptional and catastrophic situations,” he “runs the country and assumes the powers corresponding to the organs of the State, with the exception of the constituent power,” she added.

“Not a soul”

The Civil Defense called on Tuesday for an acceleration of prevention efforts, including the evacuation of vulnerable populations, as the hurricane could have consequences on the entire island.

According to local media, at least 70,000 Cubans have been evacuated to date in several provinces of the country, including more than 66,000 in Guantánamo (east), the province most affected by Hurricane Oscar, and where rain has continued to fall this week, saturating the ground with water.

In Havana, home to two million people, brigades of workers began draining sewers, collecting waste and pruning trees on Tuesday.

In the village of Alquizar, located about fifty kilometers southwest of the capital, Liset Herrera, 57, complains of not having been “able to see the news because there is no “There's no electricity.” “But from what I saw on the phone [the hurricane] is getting closer to here,” she explains, saying she fears that after it passes “there will be nothing left here.”

Further south, in the coastal village of Ganimar, Marisol Valle, a 63-year-old farmer, came to collect some belongings. “As far as I can see, there’s not a soul” in the village where residents have been evacuated. “No one stayed,” she says.

Two weeks ago, Cuba had already been hit by Hurricane Oscar, a Category 1 hurricane that hit the far east of the island on October 20 before strengthening into a tropical storm.

Severe flooding took residents by surprise in two towns in Guantánamo, San Antonio del Sur and Imias, where eight people died.

Oscar came as the island was suffering from a general blackout. For four days, the island's 10 million people were without power due to a massive blackout that began on October 18 following fuel shortages and a breakdown at the country's main power plant.

On Thursday, Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy acknowledged that the situation with the island’s electricity system remained “tense.” Since the blackout, the country has been experiencing widespread power outages due to chronic power shortages.

In September 2022, the island had already experienced a widespread power outage after the powerful hurricane Ian struck the west of the island.