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Ripped roofs, blocked streets, fallen trees, and entire communities without electricity or communication: the municipality of Baire, in the province of Santiago de Cuba, awoke devastated this Wednesday after the passage of Hurricane Melissa.
The reporter Lázaro Manuel Alonso posted on Facebook scenes of the disaster under the title: “Destruction in Baire. Harsh images arriving from the site”.
In the photos, also shared by Canal Caribe, collapsed houses, downed power poles, and debris can be seen throughout the area.
"Images witness to Hurricane Melissa... Baire, October 29, 2025," wrote Alonso, accompanied by a brief video showing the extent of the devastation caused by the cyclone's passage.
The hurricane Melissa made landfall in the early morning with winds exceeding 200 km/h, strongly impacting the municipalities of Contramaestre, Palma Soriano, and Baire.
According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), the eye of the system made landfall in the area of Uvero–Chivirico, then moving northward, with the right quadrant—the most dangerous—passing over the center of the Santiago province.
On social media, posts about what happened in Baire have multiplied. The user Yau A. Salcedo wrote: “Every image that comes in hurts so much,” accompanied by a series of photos showing collapsed roofs, flooded streets, and the desperation of neighbors trying to salvage belongings from the debris.
In another post, Salcedo added: “The fury of Hurricane Melissa left much pain and sorrow in its wake. In Baire, we mourn no loss of human life, but a great deal of material damage.”
Her words reflect the anguish of thousands of families facing the consequences of the most destructive cyclone to hit the area in recent years.
Local authorities confirmed that the electricity service is completely interrupted in the municipality and that communication systems remain unstable. Several rural communities have become isolated due to fallen trees and landslides.
We are cut off; there is no electricity, no signal, and people are trying to clear the streets with machetes and axes, a resident reported through messages sent by amateur radio operators to the provincial station.
The teams from the Civil Defense and the Ministry of the Interior are deployed in the most affected areas, carrying out clearing and damage assessment tasks.
According to preliminary reports, dozens of homes destroyed or severely damaged have been counted, in addition to significant losses in agricultural crops and state warehouses.
Neighbors described the hours of impact as “a terrifying dawn.” Many were evacuated to improvised shelter centers, while others stayed in their homes strengthening roofs and doors to withstand the onslaught of the wind.
“The noise was deafening, as if a train were passing right overhead. We could feel the walls shaking and the ceiling lifting,” recounted a woman from the La Ceiba neighborhood, where several homes were completely destroyed.
The hurricane Melissa, which reached category 3 as it crossed eastern Cuba, has left a trail of destruction in Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, and Granma.
Although the authorities do not report any loss of human life, the material damage is considerable, and recovery could take weeks.
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