The disaster caused by Hurricane Oscar's passage through Eastern Cuba leaves concerning images that reflect the magnitude of a catastrophe for which definitive figures are still not available.
This was attested by the visual artist from Guantánamo, Daniel Ross Diéguez, a direct witness to the drama experienced by the residents of San Antonio del Sur, Guantánamo, whether due to the loss and destruction of their homes or the anguish of having missing relatives.
Although the authorities have only quantified and identified seven fatalities, the population suspects that this number is higher, considering the number of families still searching for their loved ones.
The search for the missing has extended to the southern coast of the province, where, according to Ross Diéguez, a helicopter has been seen flying overhead in search of individuals who may have been swept away by the floodwaters.
"I have seen a helicopter searching for people along the coast, in the sea. Until a few days ago, they have only found one corpse, the locals and witnesses at the beach have told me," said the artist from Guantánamo this Saturday in a Facebook post.
According to his report, there are still several areas in the region that remain cut off. “There are many floods and muddy swamps still. I managed to get to the Caujerí Valley. Imías is still impossible to reach,” said Ross Diéguez.
"The parents of the heroic boy who saved himself by swimming in Macambo have not yet been found. It's very cloudy here and it has started to rain," he noted.
The "boy hero" referenced by Ross Diéguez is Abram Daniel González Hernández, the 12-year-old teenager who was rescued by members of the Municipal Defense Council with a serious leg injury and was treated at the Provincial Pediatric Hospital Pedro Agustín Pérez in Guantánamo.
"My mother's hand slipped from mine. That was when I hit my head on a coconut tree. I held on, managed to climb up, and felt cold," Abram Daniel recounted in an emotional testimony about the terrifying moments when he lost sight of his mother.
Abram Daniel jumped from the coconut tree upon hearing it creak as if it were about to break. That's when he injured his leg. When he fell again into the current caused by the flooding and rising waters, the boy was swept away into the sea.
"I went out to sea," he recounted. In his struggle to survive, the boy said he saw "two rocks" where the waves did not "break so hard," and that was how he managed to reach solid ground.
His testimony confirms the possibility that other victims, like his mother, may have disappeared at sea, which is why the authorities would have initiated a search for individuals along the coast.
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