![\"Hurricane](\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/cono-irma-cuba-1.jpg\")
The Informative Phase was declared this Tuesday for 11 Cuban provinces, from the eastern Guant\u00e1namo to the western Matanzas. In this phase \u2013 the first of the four established on the island to face meteorological events \u2013 the command posts of the DC are activated and tasks involving the cleaning of rooftops, drainages, sewers and the pruning of trees that can obstruct electricity lines are carried out.<\/p>\n
In a meeting of the National General Staff of the Civil Defense (EMNDC), its chief, retired Division General Ram\u00f3n Pardo Guerra, underlined that it is a phenomenon much more powerful than Hurricane Ivan, which passed through the island in 2004 and forced the evacuation of more than two million people.<\/p>\n
That is why, he said, \u201cthe population must remain attentive to the information of the Cuban Institute of Meteorology and the Civil Defense, and carry out with discipline the measures indicated by the local authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n
This Tuesday it was also established that \u201cthe state bodies and agencies, economic entities and social institutions of the provinces that are in the Informative Phase must rationally carry out the measures previewed in their respective disaster reduction plans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pardo affirmed that the Cuban authorities \u201care taking all the measures\u201d and underlined the importance of \u201ctransmitting confidence to the population\u201d and that the plans to protect persons, their homes and the economy\u2019s goods be met.<\/p>\n
Irma in the Caribbean. Behind, Tropical Storm Jose. Source: Cuban institute of Meteorology.<\/p>\n
In the face of the threat of this \u201cextreme\u201d meteorological event, the DC has oriented pruning trees, safeguarding harvests, readying the communication systems, speeding up the sanitation measures and ensuring infrastructures and the availability of fuel.<\/p>\n
Irma\u2019s eventual wreaking havoc over Cuba brings to mind the devastating passage of Matthew, a force 4 hurricane that in October 2016 unleashed its fury on the eastern zone of the island, particularly in the locality of Baracoa, where \u2013 although it did not cause victims \u2013 there still remain traces of the considerable material damages.<\/p>\n
The entire Caribbean is on alert, after the passage through Antigua and Barbuda, where great damages were reported in homes and electric infrastructure. The greatest damage was registered to the north of the island, although it still hasn\u2019t been assessed.<\/p>\n
In Saint Martin, toward where Irma went following this, winds of up to 295 kilometers per hours have been measured. Several inhabitants told the press about the strong floods and that during the hurricane\u2019s passage \u201croof tiles and all types of objects like tree trunks and urban furniture rained\u201d over the island.<\/p>\n
In the south of Florida, where a state of emergency has already been declared, it was ordered to evacuate the keys, a string of islets on the tip of the peninsula, in the face of the possibility that the hurricane attack that zone this weekend.<\/p>\n
EFE \/ OnCuba<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The \u201cpotentially catastrophic\u201d Hurricane Irma, with a category 5 (maximum) on the Saffir-Simpson scale, is continuing its passage through the Caribbean after having impacted with all its force the island of Barbuda early this morning. Irma, which is already considered the most powerful hurricane of the Atlantic, has sustained winds of 295 kilometers per hour […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3134,"featured_media":101830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13917],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[33546,8689],"class_list":["post-101829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cuban-environment"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n