Four days after Hurricane Melissa struck Cuba on October 29, rescue and evacuation operations continue in several eastern provinces, with the greatest danger in Granma due to flooding in the Cauto River valley. Communities remain isolated amid fragile infrastructure. In Italy, a fundraising campaign launched to support recovery efforts.
Hurricane Melissa devastated eastern Cuba on October 29, leaving flooding that persists four days later. In Granma province, heavy rains and overflowing dams have flooded vast areas of the Cauto River valley, isolating communities and exposing hydraulic infrastructure vulnerabilities.
On Sunday, about a hundred people trapped since Wednesday were rescued from the town of Los Mangos in Granma. A neighbor said before cameras and microphones: “What this country does, no other does.” Since Saturday, an emergency operation in Río Cauto and Grito de Yara involves more than 150 personnel with air, amphibious, and ground resources, evacuating entire families, children, and the sick to safe areas.
In Las Tunas province, shelters have been set up in Jobabo, Colombia, and the provincial capital, with local donations and voluntary aid contrasting state bureaucratic rigidity. Only about half of Granma's electrical service has been restored due to downed poles and damage to key installations; communications are disrupted by collapsed fiber optic cables and external plants. Repair crews from Cienfuegos, Havana, and Sancti Spíritus are reinforcing efforts.
In Holguín, the Camazán reservoir overflow forced the evacuation of more than 500 people in Urbano Noris municipality; communities like Estrada and San Francisco were isolated for over 32 hours. Transport Minister Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila reported severe railway damage in Santiago de Cuba: impacts on the Central Line between kilometers 833 and 834.5, with tracks left suspended; the bridge at km 205.8 between Dos Ríos and Palma Soriano collapsed completely, and sections remain blocked by vegetation.
For solar photovoltaic systems, Granma lost 19 panels from the Las Tapias park, with low-lying areas still submerged; authorities in Holguín, Las Tunas, and Guantánamo claim minimal damage, though local images show parks covered in mud and deformed structures. No human losses are mentioned, and rumors of another cyclone named Erin proved unfounded, as it formed in mid-August without affecting Cuba.
In international response, Italy's National Association of Friendship Italy-Cuba (Anaic) launched a fundraising campaign on November 2 to support the Caribbean nation hit by the storm.