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Families from the village El Sitio, in the municipality of Manzanillo (Granma), are living under makeshift tents along the roadside following the passage of Hurricane Melissa and the flooding that ensued.
Journalist José Ortiz Benet, who resides in Manzanillo, documented the situation in that community on his Facebook profile. “Today I visited El Sitio, one of the towns in Manzanillo affected by Hurricane Melissa and the recent floods. The water level has dropped, but the reality, very surreal, continues to grow. It is another extreme of the human condition, and I have seen so much in such a short time that my voice can only manage to ask brief questions and listen much more,” he wrote.
According to what was reported, "there are those who lost everything and are surviving on the side of the road under tents provided by the Municipal Defense Council after the evacuations. There are people still searching for their relatives, even in other towns."
The journalist stated that "water, medicine, and food are what they need the most." He explained that those affected have received donations from Cuban Americans, from the small and medium enterprises Bajo Cero and Casa Tres Delicias, as well as from the government, in addition to food supplies, sweets, and milk for the children, "but they need more, much more."
"I have to leave, I leave behind an invisible pain, an overwhelming heat, and a profound misery that frightens everything, except for the vectors that roam relentlessly," Ortiz Benet wrote at the end of his post.
In the photographs shared, white tents, makeshift kitchens, and belongings piled in the open can be seen.
The post provoked numerous reactions on social media, where users expressed sadness, outrage, and calls for help. Some lamented the lack of solutions, while others reported that the tarps given to those affected were being taken away.
Throughout the province, the damages are considerable. The Provincial Education Directorate of Granma confirmed that classes have not yet resumed to “preserve the safety and wellbeing” of students and teachers, in light of the devastation caused by the cyclone.
Meanwhile, in the municipality of Río Cauto, rescue and evacuation operations for hundreds of people affected by the rising waters of the Cauto River are ongoing, and only 25% of the electric service has been restored in the province.
In the midst of the devastation, gestures of solidarity have also emerged, such as that of a young man from Guamo who offered his motorcycle to transport evacuees for free, demonstrating community support in the face of the emergency.
"The eastern part of Cuba is in a state of deep humanitarian crisis, and the worst part is that it is uncertain when it will come to an end," warned Ortiz Benet in his post.
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