Hurricane Ian, category 3 (out of five) on the Saffir-Simpson scale, went out to sea again after crossing Cuba from south to north by its western end, causing serious conditions as it passes through intense rains and strong winds.
The authorities have not given a preliminary damage report, although multiple damages have been reported in buildings and roads, as well as downed trees and electrical poles. Also in the main tobacco plantations in the country. At the moment no personal injuries have been reported.
(Also read: Powerful Category 3 Hurricane Ian makes landfall in western Cuba)
State media reported a meeting of the country’s main officials to assess the effects of the hurricane, in which the country’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, participated.
The first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC, only legal), Yamile Ramos, participated in this meeting by telephone. “The damage is considerable. There are damages to homes, tobacco houses, interrupted roads, fallen treesRamos assured, as reported on Twitter by the country’s Presidency.
Díaz-Canel, for his part, promised to focus “all the country’s efforts to immediately erase the damage.”
In the western provinces of Pinar del Río and Mayabeque, there has been damage to homes, public buildings, factories, fields, tobacco houses and highways, due to flooding -both due to rainfall and the entry of the sea into coastal areas- and trees and electrical poles felled by strong winds.
At the moment no personal injuries have been officially reported. Some 50,000 people have been evacuated.
(Also: Hurricane Ian: Cuba on alert for the arrival of the storm)
Ian’s impact in Cuba
According to the Meteorological Institute (Insmet) of Cuba, Ian went out to sea again around 8:00 local time (14:00 GMT) at a point on the north coast near Puerto Esperanza (Viñales). The effects of the hurricane will continue to be felt for hours on the island.
The eye of the hurricane, 32 kilometers in diameter, made landfall around 4:30 local time (8:30 GMT), with winds exceeding 200 kilometers per hour (km / h). Associated with the eye, a calm of 48 minutes was also recorded.
Ian, the fourth hurricane of the season and the first to reach Cuban territory, It is heading north at about 19 km/h and is expected to maintain that direction in the next few hours.
In the last 24 hours, heavy and intense rains have been recorded in Cuba, with a maximum of 108.3 millimeters (mm) (or liters per square meter) at the Cuba-France Friendship weather station on the Isle of Youth (southwest ).
(You can read: Hurricane Fiona reaches category 4 and advances strongly towards the north of the Caribbean)
Hurricane-force winds have also been detected in the western third of the island, with sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour (km/h). The strongest streak was 208 km/h in the town of San Juan y Martínez.
Insmet forecasts that the western third of the country, from Pinar del Río to Matanzas, will continue to experience heavy rains and strong electrical activity, even severe locally, until early afternoon.
It also estimates that winds of between 70 and 120 km/h will continue to sweep the western end of the island until the end of the morning.
Ian threatens Florida
Ian will maintain his strength as he crosses the Greater Antilles and will be reinforced when it emerges in the Gulf of Mexico as a major threat to Florida (USA), in the form of storm surge, wind, rain and tornadoes.
According to the trajectory forecast, after having passed Cuba, Ian will emerge this Tuesday over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico and pass west of the Florida Keys, some of which are under a hurricane warning.
On Wednesday it will approach the west coast of Florida and will make landfall probably that night or early Thursday somewhere in the central part of that coastline as a “dangerous major hurricane.”
The warnings and vigilance of the NHC also extend to a sector of central Florida and another of the coast of the southeast coast of the state.
As in Cuba, in the part of Florida included in Ian’s trajectory cone, dangerous storm surges can be produced that, combined with the tide, flood normally dry coastal areas.
In western Cuba, according to the NHC, the sea level can rise between 9 and 14 feet (2.7 to 4.2 meters).
The water could reach up to 10 feet (3 meters) above ground level in the Tampa Bay area (Florida), where more than 3.1 million people reside and mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders are already in force.
In addition to those sea level rises, accompanied by strong waves at some points, Ian is expected to produce heavy rains in Cuba and Florida, with the risk of flash flooding.
*With information from EFE
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