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New images of Cayo Granma, in the bay of Santiago de Cuba, revealed the devastation caused on the islet by Hurricane Melissa.
"The damage left by Melissa in Cayo Granma is devastating. The scene is bleak: roofs torn off, homes collapsed—either completely or partially—and the town's church, a symbol of faith and refuge, has been left without a roof," reported journalist Cuscó Tarradel on Facebook, who included images of the destruction.
Tarradel assured that the residents of Cayo Granam are facing moments of distress.
"They are still waiting for the arrival of a government commission to assess the damage and provide urgent support to the affected families," he said
Aliuska García, a resident of the islet, told Tarradel that it is “very sad to see this land like this!”
"Today, Cayo Granma needs to be heard. It needs help, support, and solidarity, like many areas in Eastern Cuba," concluded the journalist.
On Friday, the testimony of Toti, a resident of Cayo Granma, who lost everything after the passing of Melissa.
The young man displayed in a video the rubble where his house once stood, amidst wet mattresses, collapsed walls, and the despair of having no food or medicine for his family.
The video was shared on social media profiles of Conducta Dade, a project that highlights stories of Cubans in vulnerable situations and is now focusing on those, like Toti, who face the total loss of their homes after the hurricane.
"I lost everything... the roof, the furniture, the books, the little girl's clothes," she says with a trembling voice as she surveys her devastated home.
His testimony reflects the human drama that Melissa left behind in one of the hardest-hit areas of Santiago de Cuba.
"Until this moment, we have not been able to recover anything. We have nothing to eat, we have no milk for the baby, and we have no money to buy food," laments the young man, who assures that he will spend the night at a neighbor's house.
The images reveal collapsed ceilings, destroyed appliances, and a family lacking the resources to start over, amidst the institutional silence that weighs heavily on the most affected communities.
The community of Cayo Granma is immersed in devastation after the onslaught of Hurricane Melissa.
The cyclone, which struck eastern Cuba as a Category 3 storm, caused the destruction of numerous homes and resulted in the total loss of material possessions for many families.
Evidence of the disaster is circulating on Facebook, specifically in the group "Friends of the Key," where several users have posted videos that capture the extent of the damage.
These recordings confirm the violent impact on the structures of the small islet located at the entrance of Santiago Bay.
The images shared in the virtual community depict a scene of devastation: residences completely collapsed, roofs torn off, and overturned boats, the result of intense winds and strong waves.
A resident of the Chicharrones neighborhood in Veguita de Galo, Santiago de Cuba, shared a video with CiberCuba showing how his home was devastated by the storm. In the yard, only remnants of boards, twisted zinc sheets, and fallen trees lay on the furniture and bed of the affected individual.
In Contramaestre, an entire neighborhood was submerged in water and mud following the overflow of several rivers that traverse the area.
Housing destroyed, trees uprooted, and roads blocked by tons of debris is the tragic 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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