Hurricane Moves Away from Cuba, but Rains Continue

The province of Pinar del Rio and the special municipality Isla de la Juventud were on the eve and in the first hours of Tuesday, the territories most hit by the rains

Hurricane Michael maintains its displacement towards the center of the Gulf of Mexico and is located about 280 kilometers from the western end of the Cuban province of Pinar del Río, but areas of the island are still affected by the rains.

According to the Tropical Cyclone Notice number 13 of the Forecast Center of the Institute of Meteorology (Insmet) that was the situation at 06:00, local time, in which Michael had maximum sustained winds of 150 kilometers per hour, with higher gusts, which continue to classify it as category one hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale of a maximum of five.

According to the entity, ‘in the next 12 to 24 hours will continue its progress with a similar course, slightly increasing its speed of translation and gaining more intensity, may become a hurricane of great intensity in the next 24 hours.

The rainy areas associated with this hurricane are concentrated mostly in the vicinity of the center, outside of Cuban territory, however bands of its external circulation have continued to affect the west of the largest of the Antilles, a situation that must continue during the tomorrow, with a decrease from the afternoon, he said.

The Insmet Forecast Center added in its notice that the winds will maintain their tendency to decrease, although the swells will continue with danger for navigation on the south coast of the west and in the center of the country, which will be strong on the south coast of the Isle of Youth and Pinar del Río.

The province of Pinar del Rio and the special municipality Isla de la Juventud were on the eve and in the first hours of Tuesday, the territories most hit by the rains and the winds of Michael, for which the National Civil Defense Staff decreed yesterday for them the Cyclonic Alert phase.

Thousands of people without electrical service and floods that forced to evacuate citizens and hindered some roads are among the damages of the hydro meteorological phenomenon.