The First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba in Santiago de Cuba and President of the Provincial Defense Council, Beatriz Johnson Urrutia, announced today that efforts are underway to evacuate 258,573 people in the province due to the imminent impact of Hurricane Melissa, which threatens heavy rains and flooding.
He also stated that special attention is being given to the coastal municipality of Guamá and to the safety of the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and Protesta de Baraguá reservoirs, while participating via videoconference in the expanded meeting of the National Defense Council, led by the president of the National Defense Council, Miguel Díaz-Canel.
Earlier, Johnson issued a alert message about the imminent danger of Hurricane Melissa, which threatens to have a devastating impact on the eastern part of the country.
He explained that local authorities are working on the protection of essential resources and the relocation of people living in vulnerable areas to safe places, in coordination with the Provincial Defense Council.
He also called for solidarity in the face of danger and urged everyone to be cautious and not underestimate the power of the hurricane.
According to the latest report from the Forecast Center of the Meteorology Institute, Melissa remains a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with maximum sustained winds of 220 km/h and higher gusts, while moving westward at about six kilometers per hour.
The forecast indicates that until Tuesday, the storm will slowly move west-west-northwest, positioning itself near or over the southern coast of Jamaica, and from that point, it may turn towards the north and then northeast.
The provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantánamo must be on high alert due to the strong surges that have already begun to be recorded along the southeastern coast.
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