Western Cuba on Warning Due to Hurricane Michael

According to the Department of Meteorology, in Cape San Antonio almost 60 millimeters of precipitation were registered in two hours, as well as winds of up to 97 kilometers per hour

Authorities and residents of western Cuba are currently watching Hurricane Michael’s passage through the Gulf of Mexico, whose rains represent the main threat to the island, and in particular to the province of Pinar del Rio.

People in the westernmost territory of Cuba, declared this morning in information phase by the Civil Defense, already feel the onslaught of the hydrometeorological phenomenon.

According to the Department of Meteorology, in Cape San Antonio almost 60 millimeters of precipitation were registered in two hours (07:00-09:00 local time), as well as winds of up to 97 kilometers per hour.

The source said that in La Bajada the accumulated rainfall reached 73 millimeters, and 49 in Isabel Rubio, a town near the Cuyaguateje River, the largest and most abundant in western Cuba.

Authorities in Pinar del Rio suspended classes and activities related to the agricultural sector, and adopted measures to protect the population and economic resources.

In tobacco areas, near the beginning of the new campaign with some 20,000 hectares of land dedicated to it, the stonemasons are protected with plant covers and drainage actions are applied, in order to minimize the effects of Hurricane Michael.

The National Staff of the Civil Defense of Cuba established the Informative Phase for the western provinces of Pinar del Rio, Artemisa, Havana, Mayabeque and Matanzas, as well as the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud.