The municipality of Cueto, in the province of Holguín, is facing severe flooding after the passage of Hurricane Melissa, with homes submerged, landslides, and evacuations of families caught off guard by the rapid rise of the waters.
According to reporter Miguel Reyes and dozens of internet users on social media, although the eye of the cyclone has already left Cuba, the rains have not stopped and several communities remain flooded, which are also isolated.
Melissa impacted eastern Cuba with torrential rains and overflowed rivers in its wake, leaving behind images of houses completely submerged in water in Cueto.
Neighbors report significant material losses and the urgency with which they had to leave their homes as the water level rose.
In the area, “many families have lost everything” due to a combination of the winds and, above all, the flooding associated with the storm.
Residents are trying to salvage what little they have left, as the downpours continue and access to the affected neighborhoods becomes more difficult.
The humanitarian dimension is critical: reports indicate extensive damage to homes, crops, and electrical lines, which worsens the living conditions of those who remain in the area.
The persistence of rainfall maintains a high risk of new flooding and complicates any attempt at immediate recovery.
A neighbor summarizes the historical vulnerability of the area: “The city of Holguín was built between two rivers: the Jigüey and the Marañón. And since they do not carry out the necessary cleanings every time there is a weather event, it fills up with water. We are flooded.”
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported at 11:00 am this Wednesday that Melissa is located off the east coast of Cuba, now in the southwestern Atlantic, with a central pressure of 974 mb and moving northeast (35°) at 14 mph (22 km/h) and will continue to generate intense rains and storm surges for the island.
The core of the system will move away from the eastern coast of Cuba this morning, traverse the southeast or central Bahamas today, and pass near or west of Bermuda late Thursday and overnight.
The NHC maintains a broad set of warnings: hurricane warnings for the Cuban provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Holguín, and Las Tunas, for the southeast and central Bahamas, and for Bermuda; tropical storm warnings for Haiti, Camagüey, and the Turks and Caicos.
Hurricane conditions are forming in Cuba within the warned area —with expectations of weakening starting this afternoon—, while hurricane conditions are anticipated in the Bahamas today and tropical storm conditions in the Turks and Caicos.
The danger from rainfall remains critical. In eastern Cuba, very heavy rains will continue this morning, with totals ranging from 10 to 20 inches and local maxima of up to 25 inches in mountainous areas, capable of causing catastrophic flash flooding and numerous landslides; the precipitation regime is expected to decrease by the afternoon.
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