HAVANA | The tropical depression Eta gained in intensity in the Caribbean Sea on Saturday, becoming a tropical storm as it approached Cuba, which placed the central provinces of the island on alert.
After hitting Central America as a hurricane, where it left nearly 200 dead or missing in seven Central American countries, the storm was heading towards Cuba, which it is due to hit on Saturday evening, and Florida.
According to the Cuban Institute of Meteorology, Eta was at midday Saturday “55 kilometers north of the Cayman Islands and 260 kilometers south / southwest of Trinidad, Sancti Spiritus, Cuba.” Eta is moving rapidly east / northeast at a rate of 28 kilometers per hour ”, with winds of up to 95 km / h.
“A gradual intensification is expected as night approaches in the southern central region of Cuba, which will increase the rains in much of the archipelago, which can be heavy and intense, including in remote areas. of the center ”of the island, warned the Civil Defense.
According to the American Hurricane Monitoring Center (NHC), “these rains can cause flash floods and river flooding in Cuba in significant and dangerous ways.”
The alert phase has been declared for the province of Matanzas (west) and those of Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spiritus and Ciego de Avila (center). The evacuation of inhabitants to safe places, with food and medical attention, has started, as well as the drainage of certain water basins, already well filled with this hurricane season (June 1 – November 30) which is particularly active this year.
In Central America, Eta caused the heaviest death toll in Guatemala, with at least 150 dead or missing, and on Saturday rescuers continued to look for survivors after the landslide caused by the hurricane in the indigenous village of Queja (north) .
In Honduras, authorities on Saturday announced a death toll of at least 23 after heavy flooding.
Eta, which made landfall Tuesday on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua in a powerful category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 km / h, gradually weakened as it passed Nicaragua and Honduras.
Its torrential rains also affected Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, as well as Mexico, where authorities in Chiapas, one of the poorest states in the country, announced the discovery of at least 20 dead. , mostly washed away by flooding streams.