Hurricane Rafael, which made landfall on the afternoon of Wednesday in the southern part of Artemisa province, is currently battering the municipality of Batabanó in Mayabeque with strong winds and flooding caused by heavy rains and sea surges.
A Facebook post by the magazine Juventud Técnica reported the impacts of the category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale (out of a maximum of 5) just three kilometers off the coast of that area.
The shared video shows the heavy rain falling on the coastal area and the flooding in one of its regions, reaching a significant height of the homes.
The powerful hurricane made landfall in Cuba at 4:20 p.m., near Playa Majana in the province of Artemisa, about 75 km south-southwest of Havana, with maximum sustained winds reaching 185 km/h (115 mph), according to a report from the Forecast Center of the Cuban Institute of Meteorology (INSMET).
The meteor is expected to cause dangerous storm surges capable of generating flooding, along with hurricane-force winds that could endanger lives and property, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in the United States.
At the weather station in the municipality of Mariel, in Artemisa, sustained winds of 130 km/h and a gust of 186 km/h were recorded at 5:20 p.m.
Reports in the media and social networks also indicate the force of hurricane-strength wind gusts in Havana following the impact of Cyclone Rafael.
The National Chief of Civil Defense has declared the Cyclonic Alarm Phase starting at six in the morning this Wednesday for eight Cuban provinces and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, due to the imminent approach of the hurricane to the country.
Meanwhile, the provinces of Guantánamo, Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Granma, Las Tunas, and Camagüey, which were in Informative Phase, returned to "normal" starting at 11 a.m., as Hurricane Rafael does not pose a threat to them. The Civil Defense, on the other hand, decided that Ciego de Ávila would remain in Informative Phase and warned its population to "pay special attention to coastal flooding on the southern coast."
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