November 7, 2024
News coming out of Cuba is spotty this morning as the second hurricane in a week has pounded the island, once again knocking out the compromised national electric grid of the blockaded country.
Ed Newman from Radio Havana Cuba has reported that Hurricane Rafael, which followed a trajectory that passed between Pinar del Rio and Artemisa in the western part of the country, left the island last night at 8pm leaving behind significant damage but at this time there are no reports of any deaths.
By Leticia Martinez Hernandez
As soon as Hurricane Rafael began to leave Cuba, the National Defense Council, headed by President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, met to evaluate the steps to be taken after the strong impact of this meteorological phenomenon.
We are going immediately to the recovery, with no time to lose, from the early hours of Thursday, said President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, when heading, on Wednesday evening, the meeting of the National Defense Council, in which the next steps were evaluated, after the strong impact of Hurricane Rafael.
The meteorological phenomenon reached the western zone of Cuba with category three, and registered winds of over 180 kilometers per hour.
Accompanied by the members of the Political Bureau of the Party, Manuel Marrero Cruz, Prime Minister, and the Secretary of Organization of the Central Committee, Roberto Morales Ojeda, as well as the heads of several ministries, the President indicated to make the preliminary assessment of the damages during the night and early morning, in order to make the first analysis early in the morning, and trigger the recovery process.
The President will be, with several ministers, touring the affected areas as from Thursday, to assess the damage on the ground and make decisions.
The Minister of Economy and Planning, Joaquín Alonso Vázquez, head of the Economic-Social Group of the National Defense Council, informed about the measures taken for the protection of people and material goods, the distribution of the standard family food basket, the anticipated harvests, the production of bread, the supply of fuel to the generators, the protection of vessels, the preparation of the brigades for the recovery, among other decisions.
The implementation of the strategy to connect the National Electric System, which has been down since Wednesday afternoon due to the strong winds of the hurricane, is underway, for which electric subsystems are being created in the Center and the East.
The revision of the distribution lines in the West has begun in order to start the recovery of the electric service.
Source: Granma, translation Resumen Lationamericano – English
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