By Alejandra Garcia on July 6, 2021 from Havana
Tropical Storm Elsa is no longer a danger to Cuba. At this hour, only light rain is falling over Havana, caused by the feeder bands of the meteorological phenomenon that is already advancing towards the US, in particular Florida.
Its winds were not felt strongly in the capital, as expected. Elsa weakened since it touched Cuban land at the Bay of Pigs, in Matanzas, this Monday at 2pm local time. The storm crossed from the southern coast to the northern coast of the adjacent province of Mayabeque. The damage caused by its passage through these places is still being calculated by authorities, who believe it has not been significant.
Recent reports show that Elsa has brought more benefits than disadvantages to the country. Before reaching Matanzas, it passed through the waters of the southern Caribbean, where the storm clouds covered the sky from Guantanamo to Cienfuegos. In these provinces, no material damage nor loss of life was recorded, and the rains filled the reservoirs that supply water to citizens and guarantee agricultural work.
Elsa turned out to be no big deal, but all of Cuba was prepared for the worst scenario. Since the end of last week, Cubans have given total attention to every report issued by experts from the country’s Meteorological Institute (INSMET) and complied with the measures oriented by the country’s civil defense.
Thanks to timely information, the expertise of Cuban meteorologists, and the experience of the population in the face of hurricanes and tropical storms, Elsa passed through Cuba without leaving deep traces. The government and local authorities acted quickly, even amid the most complex situation the country has experienced since the beginning of the pandemic.
Days before Elsa’s arrival, authorities evacuated over 200,000 people, ensuring the health measures needed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This Monday, not a soul was seen in Havana’s streets, even though the sun was out for most of the afternoon.
In the face of meteorological events, Cubans are disciplined. They trust in authorities, journalists, and scientists, who work tirelessly until the phenomenon has ceased to be a potential danger to citizens’ lives.
The people did not lack information. As is customary in the face of events of nature such as this one, the Cuban Television Information System broadcasted an uninterrupted Special Program dedicated to Elsa’s passage through the Island. The traditional media turned to social networks to share information nourished by testimonies and posts made by citizens of each territory.
The cyclonic season in the Atlantic Ocean, which began on June 1, will be active until November 30. The INSMET forecasts that several hurricanes will circulate in the region and assures that there is an 85 percent probability that Cuba will be hit by at least one of them. One ominous aspect of Elsa was how early in the season that a storm of near hurricane winds and rain arrived reminding us that climate change is real.
This news comes amid intense days of constant struggle against COVID-19, medicine and food shortages, economic crisis aggravated by the U.S. blockade, and exhaustion due to a pandemic that seems to have no end. But Cuba looks ahead and does so with humor.
After the storm left the country without causing major havoc, dozens of memes have begun to circulate on social networks about how Elsa had no chance of devastating Cuba.
One of them reads: “Elsa’s worst mistake was to enter through the Bay of Pigs,” alluding to the place where mercenaries in the service of Washington tried to invade the island in 1961 to overthrow the newborn Cuban Revolution. “They were defeated in less than 74 hours, and so was Elsa,” another meme reads.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English