In the midst of the crisis caused by Hurricane Oscar in the Guantanamo municipality of San Antonio del Sur, the local population went into a panic this Friday after a rumor spread about the possible break of the dam that supplies that area.
In this municipality, already devastated by Hurricane Oscar and which has suffered the loss of at least six residents due to flooding since Saturday, people abandoned their homes and took to the streets pushing elderly individuals in wheelchairs and running in search of shelter or climbing onto trucks to get away from the area, according to videos posted by the government-backed portal Miguel Noticias on Facebook.
The president of the Provincial Defense Council denied the alarm, calling it "fake news": "We want to inform the population, first of all those in San Antonio and Guantánamo, that the rumor about the breaking of the dam curtain in San Antonio del Sur is false. This rumor has been spread by malicious individuals and has generated a certain level of panic in a community that has already suffered damage. We reiterate that it is completely false," the official stated.
Despite this, the tension had already been unleashed, and a video circulating on social media shows the terror that the false news caused. The community, visibly shaken, reflects the distrust towards the government in this context of crisis, where state negligence put them in danger during a massive blackout that prevented them from getting information about the arrival of a hurricane, which consequently caught them off guard.
The recent events have left the population in a state of helplessness. Miliurki Ortiz Rojas, a commentator on social media, said that the panic was exacerbated by rumors and the lack of clear information. Yami Yami, another resident, expressed her frustration over the atmosphere of fear and distrust that now prevails in the community.
San Antonio del Sur has been one of the municipalities most affected by the hurricane, with a toll of six confirmed deaths, including three people over 80 years old and a five-year-old girl. President Miguel Díaz-Canel confirmed the tragedy, stating that the victims may have died from drowning due to the severe flooding that hit the region.
The devastation caused by Hurricane Oscar, which made landfall on Sunday and then downgraded to a tropical storm, has left many areas inaccessible for rescue operations. Díaz-Canel mentioned that the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior are working on locating and recovering the affected population.
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