The government in Holguín is asking for help from motorcycles with loudspeakers to provide information about Hurricane Melissa

In the midst of the energy collapse and the communications weakened by widespread blackouts, the authorities in Holguín have requested the cooperation of owners of motorbikes equipped with speakers to disseminate warnings about Hurricane Melissa, which threatens to impact eastern Cuba as a powerful Category 5 system.

The announcement, shared on the page of Periódico Ahora, states that the Municipal Defense Council of Frank País is requesting motorcyclists to go to "the Party" to coordinate information actions related to the arrival of the meteorological phenomenon.

"Motorbike owners with speakers are informed that their collaboration is needed to share announcements and information related to Melissa's arrival in the territory," states the official message.

The measure comes in the context of a near-total collapse of the National Electric System (SEN), leaving millions of Cubans without electricity for more than 20 hours a day.

In the east, where the greatest impact of the hurricane is expected, the power outage has incapacitated many community radios and institutional communication channels, forcing authorities to resort to improvised means to alert the population.

As Hurricane Melissa advances with sustained winds of 260 km/h and a central pressure of 917 hectoPascals, the Civil Defense has declared the Cyclonic Alarm Phase for the provinces of Guantánamo, Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Granma, Las Tunas, and Camagüey.

However, the population is facing the emergency without electricity, without fuel, and with limited access to information, in a situation that recalls the most desperate images of past natural disasters on the island.

In Granma, the first secretary of the Communist Party, Yudelkis Ortiz, toured communities accompanied by propaganda teams with megaphones, urging to "inform without delay" in light of the lack of more effective means.

"The forecasts are not good, and time needs to be bought. In foresight lies the art of saving," Ortiz wrote on Facebook, as images circulated of party vehicles driving through the streets with loudspeakers to inform the neighbors.

The use of motorbikes, megaphones, and makeshift loudspeakers has become the only option to keep a population informed without electricity, radio, or internet, as Hurricane Melissa approaches national territory.

With a country in darkness and the electrical system at its most critical point, Cuba faces not only the threat of a historic cyclone but also the collapse of its own ability to communicate and protect its people.