Six people lost their lives in eastern Cuba due to the impact of Hurricane Oscar, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel announced on Monday.
“Unfortunately, preliminary reports indicate that six lives were lost in the municipality of San Antonio del Sur,” located in Guantanamo province, the president stated during a televised address.
In addition to San Antonio del Sur, the municipality of Imias, also situated in eastern Cuba, experienced severe weather-related damage. “Unprecedented flooding has occurred in these two areas,” he added.
“The Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior are currently leading rescue operations in these municipalities of Guantanamo, where some regions remain inaccessible,” the president noted on the social media platform X.
Hurricane Oscar made landfall on Sunday evening with winds nearing 130 km/h before being downgraded to a tropical storm. It moved away from Cuban territory by Monday evening.
“The center of Tropical Storm Oscar is now departing Cuban territory and is located in the waters north of Holguin province,” reported the Cuban Meteorological Institute (Insmet) in its latest bulletin at 21:00 (01:00 GMT Tuesday).
By Sunday evening, wave heights reached up to four meters in Guantanamo province. Official press reports indicated damage to roofs and walls of houses, as well as downed power poles and trees.
