Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel continues to monitor the trajectory of Hurricane Rafael, which is expected to hit the Island this afternoon as a Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
Havana, Cuba.- “Very early, we checked the country’s meteorological situation,” the Head of State wrote on X social media. “We are in constant contact with the areas that will suffer the greatest impact of Hurricane Rafael,” Díaz-Canel added.
“We are well prepared and we will immediately begin recovery efforts. ¡Fuerza Cuba!”, the Cuban leader assured.
Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Ramiro Valdés, and the head of the Civil Defense Staff, Major General Ramón Pardo Guerra, checked preparations in the western province of Artemisa as hurricane Rafael nears.
The Civil Defense reported on X social media that Valdés and Pardo are assessing preparation in that territory, in the western region, where the hydrometeorological event is expected to hit the country.
The Forecast Center of the Cuban Meteorological Institute (INSMET) reported that this afternoon, Rafael should bash Cuba as a category 3 storm, at a point between Playa Cajío and Playa Dayaniguas, in Artemisa and Pinar del Río, respectively.
The INSMET Tropical Cyclone Warning No. 12 indicates that Hurricane Rafael has continued to rapidly increase in organization and intensity during the last hours, with maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour, making it a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.
INSMET notes that hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 30 kilometers (km) from its center, and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 185 km. (PL)
