Cubans evacuate ahead of Hurricane Melissa, president urges citizens not to underestimate storm

Authorities in the eastern Cuban province of Holguín prepared to evacuate more than 200,000 people on Tuesday, in addition to a similar number moved to safety from the town of Banes ahead of the passage of Hurricane Melissa.

Reports on social media and state television showed blue-and-white buses ferrying evacuees to shelter.

Families clutched babies and belongings, and elderly people steadied themselves with canes as they disembarked.

“This phenomenon is very dangerous,” Deputy Prime Minister Eduardo Martínez said in a statement from Banes, where he was located in what appeared to be a shelter. “It is unprecedented,” he said of Hurricane Melissa.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said every effort will be made to protect residents despite the fragility of the island’s economy.

In a televised address to the nation and wearing an olive-green uniform, Díaz-Canel urged the population to not underestimate the power of the storm, calling it “the strongest ever to hit national territory.”

He asked residents to avoid bathing in swollen rivers and urged them not to leave evacuation sites “until the order has been given.”

“There will be a lot of work to do. We know there will be a lot of damage.”

In the Sierra Maestra mountains in the province of Santiago de Cuba, people tell The Associated Press that they used all kinds of transportation to evacuate from the most isolated areas, including buses, trucks and even horse-drawn carts.

Some of those fleeing their residences in remote areas huddled into the home of 83-year-old Eduviges Figueroa at the foot of the Sierra Maestra mountains that was being used as a makeshift shelter.

“We’re helping as best we can,” she said. “Now I’m cooking for everyone.”

As of Tuesday, there were already some 20 people in her home.

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