{"id":416519,"date":"2017-09-09T08:13:20","date_gmt":"2017-09-09T08:13:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/2017\/09\/09\/cuba-hit-with-strong-winds-and-heavy-rain\/"},"modified":"2017-09-09T08:13:20","modified_gmt":"2017-09-09T08:13:20","slug":"cuba-hit-with-strong-winds-and-heavy-rain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/09\/09\/cuba-hit-with-strong-winds-and-heavy-rain\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuba hit with strong winds and heavy rain"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hurricane Irma is lashing Cuba with strong winds and heavy rain after devastating several Caribbean islands.<\/p>\n

The category five storm made landfall on the Camaguey Archipelago, off the north-eastern coast.<\/p>\n

But the Bahamas have largely been spared after Irma changed track.<\/p>\n

In Florida, 5.6 million people, or 25% of the US state\u2019s population, have been told to leave as the storm approaches. At least 20 people are known to have died so far across the Caribbean.<\/p>\n

Irma, which strengthened in the last few hours, hit the Camaguey Archipelago late on Friday, threatening nearby coastal towns and villages.<\/p>\n

This is the first time a category five hurricane has hit Cuba in decades.<\/p>\n

At 03:00 GMT on Saturday, Irma had maximum sustained winds of 257km\/h (160mph), the National Hurricane Center in the US said.<\/p>\n

The eye of the storm was about 190km (120 miles) east-southeast of the Cuban fishing town of Caibarien.<\/p>\n

A hurricane warning is currently in effect in the provinces of Camaguey, Ciego de Avila, Sancti Spiritus, Villa Clara and Matanzas.<\/p>\n

Some communities have lost power, and communication is becoming increasingly difficult with towns in more remote areas, the BBC\u2019s Will Grant in Havana reports.<\/p>\n

Residents are hoping the storm will just glance the island before heading across the Florida Straits to Miami.<\/p>\n

Even that, however, could bring dangerous flash flooding and storm surges in many populated areas, our Havana correspondent says.<\/p>\n

Earlier, people tried to secure their roofs and move belongings from low-lying coastal areas to higher ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are really strong gusts of wind. It is pouring off and on, and the lights are out,\u201d Anaida Gonzalez, a retired nurse in the Camaguey province, told Reuters.<\/p>\n

About 50,000 tourists are fleeing or have fled Cuba, with resorts on the north coast now empty, the news agency reports.<\/p>\n

Irma is expected to hit Florida on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Brock Long, the head of the US federal emergency agency, warned that Irma would \u201cdevastate\u201d either Florida or neighbouring states.<\/p>\n

He said that parts of Florida would be without power for days.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe entire south-eastern United States better wake up and pay attention,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Florida Governor Rick Scott said all Floridians should be prepared for possible evacuation, and issued a stark warning to those in threatened areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are running out of time. If you are in an evacuation zone, you need to go now,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember, we can rebuild your home, we can\u2019t rebuild your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The death toll continued to rise on Friday in the Caribbean.<\/p>\n

France\u2019s Interior Minister G\u00e9rard Collomb said nine people were dead and seven missing in the French territory on St Martin, an island shared with the Netherlands, and St Barth\u00e9lemy.<\/p>\n

Another death \u2013 the second \u2013 has been confirmed in the Dutch territory of Sint Maarten.<\/p>\n

French officials said six out of 10 homes on Saint-Martin were so badly damaged that they were uninhabitable.<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump spoke on Friday to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to extend his condolences and offer support, the White House said.<\/p>\n

French, British and Dutch military authorities have deployed aid \u2013 including warships and planes equipped with food, water and troops \u2013 to their territories.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Hurricane Irma is lashing Cuba with strong winds and heavy rain after devastating several Caribbean islands. The category five storm made landfall on the Camaguey Archipelago, off the north-eastern coast. But the Bahamas have largely been spared after Irma changed track. In Florida, 5.6 million people, or 25% of the US state\u2019s population, have been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":415627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-416519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\nCuba hit with strong winds and heavy rain - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/09\/09\/cuba-hit-with-strong-winds-and-heavy-rain\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Cuba hit with strong winds and heavy rain - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Hurricane Irma is lashing Cuba with strong winds and heavy rain after devastating several Caribbean islands. 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