Eastern Cuba braced Tuesday Oct. 4 for a swipe by Hurricane Matthew as bands of heavy rain and wind began to whip the island’s easternmost communities in the early afternoon.
José Rubinera, Cuba’s chief hurricane forecaster, said in a televised update that Matthew was expected to make landfall between Cajobabo and the city of Guantánamo, which sits near the U.S. Naval Station at Guantánamo Bay, between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. and would exit between the communities of Moa and Banes on the island’s northern coast around midnight.
U.S. personnel have been evacuated from the naval station at Guantánamo.
Residents of a village near Guantánamo, Cuba prepared their house for Hurricane Matthew. (PHOTO: ap.org)
Rubinera said tropical storm force winds could affect Cuba as far west as Camagüey and Ciego de Avila.
“We’re very worried. It’s very sad and painful that a hurricane is arriving and could destroy the little that we have,” Yoandy Beltran Gamboa said in a phone call from Guantánamo.
Source: miamiherald.com