As the hours go by, harsh testimonies continue to emerge regarding the anguish experienced by many families in Guantánamo who were victims of severe and unexpected flooding due to the heavy rains associated with Hurricane Oscar.
A video shared on social media showed the concern and indignation of a family with a child who, with water up to their chest inside their home, watched as the flood covered neighboring houses and the water level rose in their own home. The overwhelming images speak for themselves.
"Neither the party, nor the government, nor anyone has come here to warn about anything," one of the family members is heard saying amid insults directed at the leaders.
"Here, if it continues to grow, we are going to drown, and no one has come here," reiterated another family member while watching over the child, elevated to a certain height to protect him.
"Everything has gotten wet: television, refrigerator, the bed. The water keeps rising and help isn't arriving!" they lamented.
Another video showed a similar scene: a home almost submerged by the flood.
In recent hours, overwhelming requests for help from desperate relatives have multiplied in Facebook groups, mainly from San Antonio del Sur and Imías, who, both from abroad and from other provinces of the country, have asked for assistance to locate their loved ones.
The province of Guantánamo, and in particular several areas of municipalities like Imías and San Antonio del Sur, were cut off due to the flooding caused by Oscar, which hit the region hard before degrading to a tropical storm.
Cuban authorities initially confirmed that six people lost their lives in San Antonio del Sur due to the intense rains and damage caused by the hurricane, including a mother and her five-year-old daughter.
Subsequently, a seventh victim was reported in the municipality of Imías, which was also devastated by the weather phenomenon.
Miguel Díaz-Canel publicly lamented the deaths and indicated that rescue and damage assessment efforts continue in the most affected areas, many of which remain flooded.
The coincidence of Oscar's passage through the eastern region with the collapse of the National Electric System meant that hundreds of thousands of Cubans did not receive information about the meteorological event, a situation that raised alarms among civil society, which perceived the risk that this posed for the inhabitants of that area.
What do you think?
COMMENTFiled under:
