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The president of the Provincial Defense Council, Yoel Pérez García—leader of the PCC in the territory—called for a “popular movement” to protect roofs, doors, and windows of homes and institutions, in response to the imminent threat of Hurricane Melissa.
According to the message conveyed on official social media, the official urges that solidarity be the "main strategy" to mitigate the impacts of the hurricane.
The guidance also includes, creating food and water reserves in each municipality and prioritizing hygiene services and medical care before, during, and after the event, according to the official message disseminated in the province.
The plan includes a massive evacuation in two modalities: 108,000 people will stay with family and friends, while another 36,000 will be sheltered in designated school centers for this purpose in the municipality of Guantánamo.
The call emphasizes community self-protection and the ability of neighbors to secure their homes and stock up on supplies, without detailing specific material reinforcements, repair schedules for roofs, or large-scale distributions of state resources in the statement.
This emphasis on the population to “organize” and “protect” themselves once again highlights a recurring contrast in risk situations: while authorities appeal to social responsibility and solidarity, the expectation grows that it will be the State itself that protects citizens with resources, logistics, and sustained structural solutions.
In parallel with community preparation, the Civil Defense emphasizes that the sanitation of spaces and the availability of medical services are crucial to prevent outbreaks and complications related to health following heavy rains, while also reiterating the need to ensure water and food in households and temporary protection centers.
Hurricane Melissa continues to gain strength in the Caribbean and now reaches maximum sustained winds of 150 kilometers per hour, according to the latest report from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) of the United States.
The agency warned this Saturday that the system "is beginning a rapid intensification process" and could become a major hurricane in the coming hours, as it dangerously approaches Jamaica and eastern Cuba.
The NHC located the center of the cyclone at 16.6 degrees north and 75.5 degrees west, about 210 kilometers southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and 405 kilometers southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, moving slowly to the west at 6 km/h.
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