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Many families who lost everything after Hurricane Melissa swept through the Altamira neighborhood in Santiago de Cuba are in a dire situation following the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.
This was reported on Facebook this Friday by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada, who specified that “on the Altamira tourist road, in front of the Astillero Oriente company, dozens of families continue to struggle against water and neglect.”
"Following the devastating path of Hurricane Melissa, many homes remain completely flooded, leaving humble people with little more than what they had left floating or buried in the mud," commented the journalist.
Mayeta Labrada explained that these are families with young children, stay-at-home mothers, retired elderly people, and individuals with disabilities.
"People who didn't choose to live this way, but whose needs and the state's neglect have pushed them into these low-lying areas where their lives are at risk every time it rains," she said.
The inhabitants of Altamira are people who have no other life options and have ended up in this neighborhood after the collapse of the housing fund in Santiago de Cuba, according to Mayeta Labrada.
"Since Hurricane Sandy in 2012, these families have never received a decent solution. No materials, no housing, no land... only promises and endless waiting. Thirteen years later, the story repeats itself: the rain devastates and the government looks the other way," he denounced.
The residents of Altamira are now facing eviction from the place where they sought refuge: “From the water to the street, without mercy, without support, and without direction.”
"To make matters worse, in this very neighborhood resides the Circumscription Delegate and Head of the Popular Council, Maren. Yet even that has not stirred official conscience: the official has not visited his own community, has not shown his face, nor has he reached out to those who elected him as their voice and guide," he denounced.
Mayeta stated that no officials have visited the area and that the residents of Altamira have been left to fend for themselves by the authorities.
"Neither social workers, nor doctors, nor municipal or provincial officials have stepped foot in this periphery. Total silence. Total absence. Total indifference. In Altamira, water arrived before any aid. And abandonment came before official concern," he said.
“Today, these families are not asking for speeches or slogans. They are asking for shelter, dignity, and to be treated as what they are: human beings. Because vulnerability is not chosen, but indifference is,” he concluded.
Destruction in Santiago de Cuba
The cyclone, which struck eastern Cuba as a Category 3, caused the destruction of numerous homes and resulted in the total loss of material possessions for many families.
In Cayo Granma, in the bay of Santiago de Cuba, a young man showed the rubble where his house once stood, surrounded by wet mattresses, collapsed walls, and the despair of having no food or medicine for his family.
A resident of the Chicharrones neighborhood, in Veguita de Galo, Santiago de Cuba, showcased in a video sent to CiberCuba how his home was devastated after the storm. In the yard, only remnants of boards, twisted zinc sheets, and fallen trees lay scattered over the affected person's furniture and bed.
In Contramaestre, an entire neighborhood was submerged in water and mud following the overflowing of several rivers that run through the area.
Devastated homes, trees uprooted, and roads blocked by tons of debris is the sad landscape left by the storm in Guamá, the coastal municipality of Santiago de Cuba where Melissa made landfall on Wednesday with winds of around 200 km/h.
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