Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel today directed an in-depth, accurate, and agile evaluation of the damage caused to the western territory of the island by the passage of tropical storm Idalia, now a hurricane.

Havana, Cuba.- At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers, the Head of State urged efforts to guarantee the start of the 2023-2024 school year, on September 4, with minimal impacts, reported the official website of the Presidency on the Internet.

Díaz-Canel, the source pointed out, emphasized restoring electrical service in areas damaged by the rains as soon as possible; and doing the same to reverse everything that was affected in terms of communications.

He also commented on the importance of taking special care of the crops, and preparing the conditions, with security for inhabitants, in the face of probable floods due to persistent rainfall.

He also highlighted the importance of keeping the population informed, and that authorities stay on the ground and exchange directly with the people.

The president positively valued the preventive work carried out in compliance with the guidelines issued and thanks to the experience accumulated by the country in confronting these hydrometeorological phenomena.

For his part, the second chief of the National Civil Defense Staff, First Colonel Luis Ángel Macareño, reported that so far no accidents have been reported.

He explained that in the province of Pinar del Río, 2,645 families remain protected, while on the Isla de la Juventud there are 266 evacuees, and in Artemisa, more than 1,400 residents have been transferred to safe places.

At the meeting, the director of the Institute of Meteorology, Celso Pasos, offered up-to-date information on the path of Hurricane Idalia, whose bands of heavy rain hit the provinces of Pinar del Río and Artemisa with particular intensity, and the special municipality of Isla de youth.

He reported that abundant rains are forecast for these days, during which the meteorological event will continue to move north. The rainfall, he said, should persist for the next 24 to 48 hours.

IDALIA CAUSES SEVERAL DAMAGES IN WESTERN CUBA

Hurricane Idalia today caused multiple damages in western Cuba, where showers, rains, and thunderstorms associated with the hurricane continue.

In the province of Pinar del Río were reported damages to the electrical system, heavy rainfall, sea penetrations, and falling trees, and more than 800 people have been evacuated, according to the digital version of Granma newspaper.

The chief of the National General Staff of the Civil Defense, Major General Ramón Pardo, visited the evacuation center in the municipality of Sandino and talked with the 63 families evacuated there.

In the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, more than 200 people took refuge in the homes of relatives and neighbors due to the penetration of the sea and the strong winds.

Hurricane Idalia maintains a northerly course with an increased speed of 22 kilometers per hour. Its maximum sustained winds increased to 120 kilometers per hour, with higher gusts, making it a category one hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale of a maximum of five.

IDALIA'S RAINS BENEFIT CENTRAL CUBAN PROVINCE

Sancti Spíritus.- The rains associated with the passage of Hurricane Idalia by westernmost Cuba are beneficial for agriculture in this central province.

According to reports, average rainfall has been discrete, with higher records in northern Yaguajay municipality, the center, and south, especially in the Escambray mountain range, including Trinidad and Fomento.

Specialists of the Meteorological Center assured the rains in the last 72 hours did not provide the necessary flow to reservoirs, especially Zaza dam, Cuba’s largest man-made water storage, which must raise its level to guarantee rice production.

Even though the weather is beginning to improve, Deivy Pérez, member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and first secretary in Sancti Spiritus province, calls for maintaining the measures aimed at preserving human life and material goods in the face of a possible worsening of the climatological situation as the hurricane moves away from Cuba.

Meteorologist Freddy Ruíz explained that Idalia’s movement to the northern Gulf of Mexico could cause abundant rains, winds from the southern region, and large swells along the coast. (PL)