{"id":330687,"date":"2025-11-05T08:20:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T13:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=330687"},"modified":"2025-11-07T16:03:59","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T21:03:59","slug":"santiago-from-sandy-to-melissa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/santiago-from-sandy-to-melissa\/","title":{"rendered":"Santiago, from Sandy to Melissa"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0in\u00a0<\/span>Santiago de Cuba<\/span><\/b><\/a>\u00a0when Sandy struck. I had traveled to Camag\u00fcey shortly before and\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0experience firsthand that fateful October morning in 2012, when the hurricane mercilessly shook the city and forever etched the tragedy in the memory of Santiago\u2019s residents.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0hear\u00a0\u2014\u00a0as could many of those who were in Santiago at that time\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the dramatic and belated message from L\u00e1zaro\u00a0Exp\u00f3sito, then First Secretary of the Communist Party in the province, urging people to save their lives and\u00a0immediately\u00a0protect themselves from the approaching monster.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nor did I experience the\u00a0indescribable\u00a0suffering of the countless people who saw their roofs ripped off, their walls collapse, and all their belongings lost in the middle of the night, forced to take refuge in bathrooms, closets or wherever they could, while the terrible howls of the wind seemed to deny the possibility of a tomorrow.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From a distance, I received the devastating news the next day and was shocked by the harrowing experiences of my wife and friends, and the horrific images of the city that were beginning to circulate. The reality, however, was even worse.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I returned to Santiago as soon as I could, on one of the first buses that left once transportation was restored. But even before entering the city, as the bus silently passed through other devastated areas and towns, I could see the\u00a0magnitude\u00a0of the catastrophe from the highway.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t been able to forget the countless felled trees I saw along the way; the toppled and withered palm groves;\u00a0the reddish hillsides,\u00a0scorched by the wind, as if ravaged by a dragon; pieces of houses, roofs, walls, and anything else built were scattered everywhere.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once in Santiago, the scene\u00a0was, if\u00a0anything, even more overwhelming. Everywhere I walked, and I walked quite a lot, the destruction weighed heavily on my chest, and rubble, poles and tree trunks were piled up along the streets.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Santiago
Santiago after Sandy. Photo: Julio Larramendi. Taken from his blog.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Santiago
Santiago after Sandy. Photo: Julio Larramendi. Taken from his blog.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For many days, the urban landscape was made up of sheets of corrugated iron folded like leaves, iron bars surrendered to the fury of the wind, branches and roots cut down\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the people of Santiago nicknamed Sandy\u00a0\u201cThe Lumberjack\u201d\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and the pitiful emptiness where furniture and walls had once stood.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, people wandered around like zombies, overwhelmed by so much loss and pain.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Santiago
Santiago after Sandy. Photo: Julio Larramendi. Taken from his blog.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Santiago
Santiago after Sandy. Photo: Julio Larramendi. Taken from his blog.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Santiago
Santiago after Sandy. Photo: Julio Larramendi. Taken from his blog.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was hard to recover. It took time to come to terms with the disaster\u00a0\u2014\u00a0not just the personal one, the one that affected each family, but the one that affected the entire city\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and to break the collective lethargy, although there was no shortage of helping hands and support from many, from neighbors and even strangers.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As for my house and my family, we were lucky. In the end, we only lost part of the roof, which we managed to replace in\u00a0a short time\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the wet things dried and could be salvaged\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and we were without electricity for about 20 days. But for many, for thousands and thousands, it\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0the same. Some even lost what was most precious: their lives.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Those dark, sad days of Sandy left a deep mark\u00a0on\u00a0Santiago and its people. They shattered the myth that the mountains protected the city from cyclones and forged, in the worst way, a trauma that resurfaces every time a hurricane roams the Caribbean and approaches eastern Cuba.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, unfortunately, that trauma has cruelly taken hold with\u00a0<\/span>Melissa<\/span><\/b><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"SANTIAGO
SANTIAGO DE CUBA (CUBA), 10\/29\/2025.- A person carries a roof tile in Santiago de Cuba (Cuba). Photo: EFE\/Ernesto Mastrascusa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0there this time either\u00a0\u2014\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0not even in Cuba now\u00a0\u2014\u00a0but the many photos\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0seen in recent days of the destruction caused by this hurricane have inevitably reminded me of what happened 13 years ago.\u00a0They\u2019ve\u00a0left me with the same feeling of powerlessness,\u00a0desolation\u00a0and sadness.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond personal impressions and\u00a0possible comparisons\u00a0to Sandy\u00a0\u2014\u00a0of which\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0already seen more than one on social media\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the reality is so fierce, so devastating, that it cannot be measured in kilometers per hour or hectopascals. For those who lost everything or almost everything, the\u00a0hurricane\u2019s\u00a0category matters little.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The damage is undoubtedly\u00a0very significant\u00a0and far exceeds Santiago; it extends over a larger area than that struck by Sandy in 2012. And, although it may sound like a tall tale, Cuba is not the same today as it was then\u00a0\u2014\u00a0neither its economy, nor its reserves, nor its people, nor its institutions\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and not for the better.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"SANTIAGO
SANTIAGO DE CUBA (CUBA), 10\/29\/2025.- People\u00a0remain\u00a0in their home in the town of\u00a0Guam\u00e1\u00a0in Santiago de Cuba (Cuba). Photo: EFE\/Ernesto\u00a0Mastrascusa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A person observes a destroyed house in the town of Guam\u00e1, Santiago de Cuba (Cuba). Photo: EFE\/Ernesto Mastrascusa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Overcoming this new blow will be\u00a0very difficult. Recovering what has been lost, or at least a part of it, will be very costly.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0not saying\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0impossible, but it will be arduous and painful, as much or even more so\u00a0than after\u00a0Sandy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For Santiago, for eastern Cuba, for all those affected, moving forward will require great strength, great willpower, great resilience, and a great deal of help. It will require not standing idly by\u00a0\u2014\u00a0once again\u00a0\u2014\u00a0amid so many shortages and difficulties, and taming the now renewed trauma, because another\u00a0hurricane\u00a0this destructive might not be another 13 years away.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"SANTIAGO
SANTIAGO DE CUBA (CUBA),\u00a010\/29\/2025\u00a0– A man cuts tree branches in the town of\u00a0Guam\u00e1\u00a0in Santiago de Cuba (Cuba). Photo: EFE\/Ernesto\u00a0Mastrascusa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"SANTIAGO
SANTIAGO DE CUBA (CUBA),\u00a010\/29\/2025\u00a0– A man carries a mattress in the town of\u00a0Guam\u00e1\u00a0in Santiago de Cuba (Cuba). EFE\/Ernesto\u00a0Mastrascusa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"People
People cross a swollen river in the municipality of\u00a0Guam\u00e1\u00a0in Santiago de Cuba, after the passage of powerful Hurricane Melissa. Photo: Ernesto\u00a0Mastrascusa\/EFE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"10\/29\/2025\u00a0-
10\/29\/2025\u00a0– Photograph of a street affected by Hurricane Melissa in Santiago de Cuba (Cuba). Photo: EFE\/Ernesto\u00a0Mastrascusa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"10\/29\/2025\u00a0-
10\/29\/2025\u00a0– People walk along a street affected by Hurricane Melissa in Santiago de Cuba (Cuba). Photo: EFE\/Ernesto\u00a0Mastrascusa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Overcoming this new blow will be very difficult. Recovering what has been lost, or at least a part of it, will be very costly. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3261,"featured_media":330691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13902],"tags":[35056],"ppma_author":[33550],"class_list":["post-330687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cuba","tag-hurricane-melissa"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSantiago, from Sandy to Melissa | OnCubaNews English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Santiago de Cuba. Overcoming this new blow will be very difficult. 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Overcoming this new blow will be very difficult. Recovering what has been lost, or at least a part of it, will be very costly.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/santiago-from-sandy-to-melissa\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/santiago-from-sandy-to-melissa\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/santiago-from-sandy-to-melissa\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/efectos-huracan-Melissa-EFE-5-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/efectos-huracan-Melissa-EFE-5-1.jpg","width":1140,"height":712,"caption":"People walk along a street affected by Hurricane Melissa in Santiago de Cuba, hours after the hurricane passed. 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