The territory of Baracoa, one of the hardest hit by Hurricane Oscar and now facing a new threat of heavy rains due to a trough, is experiencing delays in the distribution of construction materials, leaving thousands of affected families unprotected.
Gienny Paján Cobas, President of the Defense Council in Baracoa, acknowledged the delay in the distribution of available materials, such as tiles and tarps, according to a report by the local state-run channel Primada Visión on its Facebook profile.
In the most recent Municipal Defense Council (CDM), Paján strongly criticized this situation, given the challenging circumstances the municipality is facing due to the heavy rains.
To date, only 1,801 technical reports have been prepared out of a total of 10,389 reported housing damages, a figure that highlights the sluggishness of the process, according to the CDM.
This body emphasized the need to inject more dynamism into the preparation of documents, highlighting the urgency of accelerating the response to the housing crisis.
It was also reported that although the basic food basket was distributed in 14 hard-to-reach warehouses, there are still 23 warehouses that have not received rice and 46 trading units pending products from the World Food Programme (WFP), reflecting the slow pace of logistical response, the cited source indicated.
Finally, it was reported that by 6:00 PM, 1,818 families had been evacuated, totaling 7,118 individuals, of whom 6,757 found shelter in the homes of relatives.
In the last 10 hours, the rainfall in the area reached 18.9 millimeters, underscoring the ongoing climate threat in the region.
Since the National Civil Defense Headquarters declared the Informative Phase this Saturday due to heavy rainfall, the provinces of Guantánamo, Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Granma, and Las Tunas have begun implementing a series of measures to avoid repeating the experience encountered during Hurricane Oscar.
In Guantánamo, the area hardest hit by Hurricane Oscar, a mass evacuation of residents from San Antonio del Sur to the city of Guantánamo began on Saturday, in anticipation of heavy rains and the risk of river flooding.
The Civil Defense warned about the high risk of flooding in the area, as the rains could lead to a rapid rise in river water levels, similar to what occurred 15 days ago with Hurricane Oscar, which resulted in eight deaths and two people missing in that region.
The reservoirs in the province of Guantánamo recorded a filling level of 47.74% on Sunday, amounting to 163,744 cubic hectometers of water. This situation may change in the coming hours due to the forecast of rain influenced by a trough in the eastern region.
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