Melissa Leaves Destructive Flooding Across Eastern Cuba
In Holguín, a swollen river has flooded the homes in Cueto to the point that some have disappeared beneath the water.
HAVANA TIMES – As Hurricane Melissa moves away from Cuban territory, it is becoming clear that flooding is the main problem it has left in its wake across the Island. Overflowing rivers, reservoirs nearly at maximum capacity, and homes submerged under water are among the most alarming images coming from Granma, Holguín, and Santiago de Cuba.
In the city of Bayamo, the family of Pablo, 61, left last night for the home of relatives “who live in a higher area,” the Granma native told 14ymedio by phone. “Luckily we left, because on our block the water is already up to our knees.” They left behind what they couldn’t carry—and lost it: two mattresses and a washing machine they couldn’t move in time.
Similar stories are repeated in towns and cities along Melissa’s path, which began when it made landfall at 3:05 a.m. near Chivirico, close to Santiago de Cuba, and exited the Island through the municipality of Banes in northern Holguín. In most cases, neither images nor testimonies have been shared from those hard hit communities due to interruptions in telecommunications.
Perched on rooftops in Cueto, Holguín, some residents have filmed the raging river flowing through their streets and covering houses, some of which have vanished beneath the surface. The torrent drags along branches, trash, and fragments of metal roofing torn off by Melissa’s winds or swept away by the current.
“We don’t think we’ll be able to go back tonight,” a local resident who took shelter at a neighbor’s second-floor apartment told this newspaper. His home is one of those lost under the murky brown water that has flooded the community. “I have relatives who live up in the hills, and I don’t know anything about them,” he said.
“Attention! The Sagua River continues to rise due to the heavy rains from Hurricane Melissa. Residents in low-lying areas are advised to take extreme precautions and follow instructions,” warned an official Facebook profile, accompanying the text with several photos of wooden houses submerged more than halfway underwater.
In the city of Holguín, most people remain without electricity. “We also have no mobile phone signal,” explained a resident who contacted this newspaper through a friend’s wired Nauta Hogar internet connection. “It was a dark night—noise everywhere—and when the sun came up, that’s when we saw the disaster.”
The Holguín resident described fallen trees and broken branches across the city but said the biggest concern is flooding in the nearby towns where many residents have family. “My grandmother is in Mayarí, and I have no news from her. The only thing that eases me is that she’s with my two nephews, who are young.”
The street in front of Holguín’s Municipal Cemetery—or “old cemetery,” as it’s known—turned into a torrent. Videos circulating on social media show water sweeping away fallen trees and everything in its path at high speed. Locals say the overflowing of the Jigüe River was also caused by “drainage grates that haven’t been cleared for years, despite reports being filed long ago.”
Despite Hurricane Melissa’s departure to the sea, heavy rain and storms are forecast to continue in eastern Cuba through the rest of Wednesday, intensified by the region’s mountainous terrain.
As it passed through Santiago de Cuba and Holguín, the eye of the cyclone caused considerable destruction—uprooting trees, tearing roofs off houses, and flooding entire towns.
From El Cobre, in Santiago de Cuba, one death has been reported. Father Rogelio Dean confirmed—through an audio message—that “only one fatality is known in the area, an elderly person.” He added that in the town “only a few houses with concrete roofs remain standing; most people have lost everything.”
In the past 24 hours, the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources reported 51 rain gauges with accumulations between 100 and 200 millimeters, 12 between 200 and 300 millimeters, and six exceeding 300 millimeters of precipitation. The highest totals were 377 millimeters at Charco Redondo Telecorreo, 355.9 millimeters at Las Villas Reservoir, and 346 millimeters at El Salto Hydrometric Station—all in Granma Province. (each 100 millimeters is 3.9 inches)
The Electric Company of that province reported that due to damage from Hurricane Melissa, heavy rains and winds have affected the lines of the telephone exchange, temporarily leaving residents without communication. They also stated that, due to the ongoing cyclone alarm phase, evaluation and repair work on power lines cannot yet be carried out, as weather conditions prevent any safe intervention.
“Once Civil Defense declares the recovery phase, technical teams will begin identifying and repairing damage to restore service gradually, prioritizing hospitals, water systems, and evacuation centers,” they added. It was also clarified that the thermoelectric plants in eastern Cuba are currently offline, affecting the entire national electrical system. Therefore, the long power outages from Camagüey to Pinar del Río “will be severe.”
From Contramaestre, writer Arnoldo Fernandez gave a harrowing account of his experience: “In my case, we locked ourselves in a bathroom because we feared the wind would blow down the door of the shelter house. We lived through moments of endless agony; we almost saw death through the small bathroom window.”
Fernandez, whose municipality experienced the eye of the hurricane, continued: “The saddest thing, upon returning home, was that there was no roof—Melissa took it and tore it to shreds. Today I saw it rain inside my house, and I cried.” Melissa also tore up the trees in his yard. “It looks like a bomb fell on Eden,” he said.
His pain was even greater because, at the moment they hid in the bathroom, his dog’s heart stopped: “He couldn’t overcome the terror of that beastly roar, as if a monster was coming to devour us.”
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.