There\u2019s a faded color on the Guant\u00e1namo mountainsides of the Nipe-Sagua-Baracoa Massif. Stationed for almost eight hours in the region, Hurricane Matthew changed the perspective of the natural landscape. Now there is only a dull tinge of ochre.<\/p>\n
The mercilessness of the hurricane destroyed palm trees, frightened away animals, tore at mountains, erased roofs and walls. What Matthew was unable to take with it was the survival instinct. The protection \u2013 organized by the Civil Defense, well-connected to citizen and ecclesiastic solidarity \u2013 in the face of climatological debacles is legitimized in Cuba.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s astonishing. That there wasn\u2019t a single death in Cuba after the impact of Matthew is like a miracle or a plot worthy of science fiction. That is the opinion of Rodolfo Hern\u00e1ndez, a mechanic by profession and amateur meteorologist, who attentively follows every detail about all the storms and depressions affecting the island.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuffice it to look at the photos of what Matthew did in Baracoa and in Mais\u00ed,\u201d he says, \u201cto calculate the force of the hurricane. It was a disaster, it flattened out houses, it tore off balconies from buildings, but all the persons were saved. The truth is that things were well-organized.\u201d<\/p>\n
The havoc wreaked has made people return to the rivers on the road to Baracoa and there to Mais\u00ed, where they went to wash the clothes they were able to conserve or to freshen up from the intense heat of the days that followed the strong winds.<\/p>\n
The Concha Lighthouse of Mais\u00ed Point conserved each one of its parts and won its individual fight against Matthew. Inaugurated on November 19, 1862, the Concha will continue guiding the vessels on route through the Windward Passage.<\/p>\n
The bridge over the mighty Toa River, whose force destroyed the concrete structure that sustained the foundations, will also be reborn. And the thing is that the rugged, the desolation will necessarily be left behind. And the fish will again bite in the bay of Mata. Life will go on. The dull, by force, eventually will give back a landscape that does not belong to it.<\/p>\n
But today Matthew is still real.<\/p>\n