Hurricane Melissa Brings Severe Flooding to Cuba, Rescues Ongoing

Strategic Insights -

Rescue operations and urgent evacuations continued in Cuba on Friday, as people remained trapped by severe flooding left by the torrential rains from Hurricane Melissa on rural areas and towns across the affected provinces on the eastern end of the island. The number of people evacuated from Cauto Embarcadero, Melones, Cayama, and other villages was expected to rise up to 7,500. Lázaro Manuel Alonso, a Cuban state television reporter, described the situation as a "critical point of flooding," where intense rains, dam releases, runoff from the Sierra Maestra mountains, and the penetration of the sea that blocks the river mouth converge.

Key Takeaways:

  • Over 7,500 people were expected to be evacuated from Cauto Embarcadero, Melones, Cayama, and other villages in the province of Granma.
  • The Cauto River Basin was facing a critical point of flooding, with intense rains, dam releases, runoff from the Sierra Maestra mountains, and the penetration of the sea that blocks the river mouth converging.
  • Cauto Embarcadero is close to the Cauto del Paso dam, one of the largest in eastern Cuba.
  • About 2,500 people had been evacuated from the community of Cauto Embarcadero and were being housed in several schools in Bayamo by early Friday.
  • The evacuation was a complex operation carried out by combined forces from the Bayamo Fire Command, along with reinforcements from the provinces of Camagüey, Holguín, and Santiago de Cuba, members of the Las Tunas Border Guard Troops, and Red Cross workers.
  • The Granma TV station reported that Cauto Embarcadero was flooded by the overflowing of the Cauto River downstream from the Cauto el Paso dam, with Granma's largest reservoir releasing 4,000 cubic metres per second of water.

Statistics:

  • 7,500 people expected to be evacuated from Cauto Embarcadero, Melones, Cayama, and other villages in the province of Granma.
  • 2,500 people already evacuated from the community of Cauto Embarcadero and housed in several schools in Bayamo by early Friday.
  • 4,000 cubic metres per second of water released by Granma's largest reservoir.

Sources:

  • Nora Gámez Torres, "Rescue operations and urgent evacuations continued in Cuba on Friday, as people remained trapped by severe flooding left by the torrential rains from Hurricane Melissa on rural areas and towns across the affected provinces on the eastern end of the island."
  • Lázaro Manuel Alonso, Cuban state television reporter, as reported by Nora Gámez Torres.
  • Radio Bayamo, "About 2,500 people had been evacuated from the community of Cauto Embarcadero and were being housed in several schools in Bayamo by early Friday."
  • Granma TV station, "Cauto Embarcadero was flooded by the overflowing of the Cauto River downstream from the Cauto el Paso dam, with Granma's largest reservoir releasing 4,000 cubic metres per second of water."
  • The Associated Press, "People traverse a road flooded by Hurricane Melissa on the southern coast of Santiago de Cuba on Thursday."