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With Hurricane Ida moving deeper into the Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) pulled the tropical storm warning that had been on Cuba’s westernmost Pinar del Rio province, in its 10:00 p.m. EST report. Nonetheless, the island’s civil defense authorities are still on guard.

The storm is now a Category Two hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale with winds of 100 mph (160 kph) as it skirts the Yucatan Peninsula on a course projected to take it north to the US Gulf Coast by Tuesday, where a hurricane watch is now in effect. A tropical storm warning remains for Cuba’s westernmost province of Pinar del Rio and a storm watch for the Isle of Youth.

Hurricane Ida begins to make its way into the Yucatan Channel and on into the Gulf of Mexico, with the storm passing closer to Mexico and further from Cuba. Cuban weather experts note that the storm could continue to gain in intensity and reach a category two hurricane status on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

The latest report from the Cuban Meteorological Institute (INSMET) as well as the projections of the National Hurricane Center (NSC) in Miami, show Tropical Storm Ida regaining hurricane status by late Saturday or early Sunday as it churns towards the Yucatan Channel. A tropical storm warning is in place for both the Yucatan and Cuba’s westernmost province of Pinar del Rio.

Tropical Storm Ida should cross the Yucatan Channel on Sunday morning, noted the Cuban Meteorological Institute (INSMET) in an advisory released Saturday at noon EST. The Institute warned that rains in western Cuba, which include the provinces of Pinar del Rio, Havana City, Havana Province and Matanzas, could receive between 3 and 9 inches of rain in the next 24 hours with some points up to 15 inches, especially in Pinar del Rio and the Isle of Youth.

Cuba’s new Family Code, still being drawn up, will increase the protection of children against “all forms of physical and psychological violence, exploitation, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment.” Subjects such as domestic and workplace violence -which exist in all countries no matter what their system of government- have only recently become more openly discussed in Cuba.

Cuban authorities eliminated peas and potatoes from the ration card, it was reported in the network of retail commercial establishments. Previously only available through the neighborhood “bodega” stores, those products can now be freely purchased at higher prices than those subsidized by the state

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami is showing a Tropical Storm Watch for Cuba’s far western province of Pinar del Rio on Saturday. The storm will come closest to Cuba sometime Sunday before heading north on a route that could take it close to New Orleans, whose mayor, Ray Nagin was in Cuba recently to study the island’s civil defense system.

Tropical Depression Ida has left Honduras and is now back in the western Caribbean on route to the top of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. At 6:00 p.m. EST the Cuban Meteorological Institute predicted that Ida would probably become a tropical storm again on Saturday.