Related videos:
In eastern Cuba, the mountains served as refuge and the caves as lifesavers. Osmel Guerra, a 53-year-old fisherman, fled with his family to higher ground as Hurricane Melissa swept through Guamá.
"إذا لم أذهب إلى الجبل، كان الإعصار سيقتلنا"، صرح غييرا لوكالة الأنباء الإسبانية EFE. بعد ساعات، كانت منزله قد اختفى.
The fisherman is also one of the thousands of people still waiting for the materials that the government promised in 2012, when another category 3 hurricane, Sandy, took the roof off his house.
"The situation is dire. There are no resources, nothing left. Before, they would put you in a car, take you to a place, and serve you breakfast…” he mentioned.
Like him, dozens of families from the communities near Playa Francés chose to hide in natural caves instead of going to official shelters, fearing that someone would come and steal the little they had, taking advantage of the existing chaos.
“Caves are our refuge, our rooms,” shared Saraí Villafañe, 47 years old, as she showed reporters the interior of one of them, as if it were.
The images collected by EFE illustrate the magnitude of the disaster in the hurricane's "ground zero."
Houses destroyed, roofs collapsed, roads blocked, and entire towns without phone service. It is estimated that 75% of mobile lines in the eastern part of the country remain out of service, the source stated.
The World Food Programme estimates that around 700,000 people in Cuba need urgent assistance, with at least half of them requiring aid over the next three months.
Before the arrival of the meteor, authorities from the municipality of Yateras, in the province of Guantánamo, reported that several natural caves are being prepared to be used as temporary shelters during the passage of the cyclone.
"Evacuating into caves is no joke; it's a proven measure of popular intelligence and survival that ensures safety where inadequate housing would fail," wrote the official spokesperson Carlos Pérez in defense of the decision.
Although the authorities assured that they will implement hygiene and safety measures in the caves, there are serious doubts about the operational conditions of these spaces and the effectiveness of the logistics to ensure the comprehensive protection of the individuals who need to be evacuated.
Melissa made landfall on Wednesday morning as a Category 3 hurricane, bringing over 400 millimeters of rainfall to several areas and prompting the evacuation of more than 735,000 people.
An official damage assessment has not yet been presented, but testimonials reveal a silent devastation: homes lost, food scarce, and a population that literally survived among the rocks, like the original inhabitants of the primitive community.
Filed under: