Storm Laura hits Cuba after deadly passage in Haiti

Text by: RFI Follow

4 min

Tropical storm Laura is advancing in the West Indies and is now threatening Cuba. The island of Quisqueya, shared between Haiti and the Dominican Republic recorded heavy rains this Sunday. At least twelve people died on this island, including nine in Haiti. In the capital, an informal market installed in a ravine has turned into a mudslide and garbage. At least two women died there in the waters.

Publicity

The street that leads to the Tet Dlo market in Pétionville bears witness to the violence of the torrents of water that rushed down the mountain. Only pedestrians can circulate, and not without risks. In places, patches of asphalt have even been torn off, reports our correspondent in Port-au-Prince , Amélie Baron . Soaked and shivering, Sony Joseph was like every morning to sell cookies to the merchants. He was totally unaware of the arrival of Storm Laura.

“  I got up at 6am and it was just a light rain so I went out. Downpours fell on me here. Many people have lost their goods. In my neighborhood, we don't often have electricity so I couldn't follow the news on the radio. I did not know that there was going to be bad weather, I could have died  ”, testifies Sony Joseph.

The toll of the #Laura storm is growing in # Haiti: 9 people have died (5 in the capital and 4 in the Sud-Est department) and two are currently missing.
Several rivers are in flood across the country causing severe flooding.

The authorities involved

Riverfront of the market, Franky deplores the death of at least two traders and points the finger at the authorities who do nothing to prevent anarchic constructions. “  If the state was doing its job, things wouldn't be like this. A lot of constructions are in places where nothing should be built,  ”he annoys.

At midday, the heavy machinery began to clear the alluvium from the small steep street. The traders interviewed assure that they will relocate there as soon as possible. “  We have no other choice,  ” they say.

After claiming at least 12 lives in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Tropical Storm Laura, which is expected to become a hurricane on Tuesday, reached Cuba overnight from Sunday to Monday, as Hurricane Marco heads south. United States.

50,000 people evacuated to Cuba

The fact that two hurricanes, or nearby weather phenomena, follow each other so closely in the Gulf of Mexico is extremely rare, according to US media. Storm Marco turned into a hurricane on Sunday with winds of 120 km / h expected "  along part of the US Gulf Coast  " of Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), based in Miami.

Laura, who is moving fast at 33 km / h, reached Cuba overnight from Sunday to Monday. "  It's a tropical storm that does not yet have the organization that a hurricane could have  ," meteorologist José Rubierta told state television.

Laura entered from eastern Cuba with gusts reaching 146 km / h and waves of more than 3 meters over the town of Maisi, at the eastern tip of the island, in the province of Guantanamo, where the electricity was cut as a precaution. The winds have caused material damage, such as zinc roofs and some houses, and falling trees, but without causing any casualties for the time being, according to the state press.

In Guantanamo and Santiago de Cuba, some 50,000 people were evacuated in a preventive manner to homes for relatives and shelters dedicated to this type of event. Laura should pass near the capital, Havana, this Monday afternoon, then leave for the sea at dawn on Tuesday, possibly via Pinar Rio (far west), in a north-west direction.

(With Agency)

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• Haiti
• Natural disasters
• Cuba

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