Lucky ones. Ulyanovsk residents miraculously escaped Hurricane Irma in Cuba. Russian tourists told how they fled from Irma in Cuba Irma in Cuba now

Hurricane Irma affected the northern coast of Cuba on the night of Friday to Saturday, September 9, and moved further to the west of the island, already slightly weakened. The wind speed at the initial contact of the hurricane with the island was 209 km/h. Cuban authorities have closed Havana airport.

In Havana itself, hundreds of buildings were destroyed and damaged. Several dozen settlements and resorts in the north of the island were damaged, from where about 10 thousand people were evacuated on Saturday. Hurricane Irma moved toward Florida on Sunday.

HOW MANY RUSSIAN TOURISTS ARE IN CUBA NOW?

It is estimated that the share of organized Russian tourist flow in Cuba is more than 90%. According to Edilberto Lyon, a representative of Cuban tourism in Moscow, there may currently be from 1,200 to 1,500 organized Russian tourists in Cuba. At the same time, organized tourists from Russia are concentrated in the resorts of Varadero, Cayo Coco and Cayo Santa Maria. Independent tourists usually stay in Havana. He found it difficult to name the exact number of Russians traveling around Cuba now. However, based on the predominance of organized tourist flow, we can assume that it is only slightly higher than the figure indicated above.

DYNAMICS OF RUSSIAN TOURIST FLOW TO CUBA

According to the latest data from Cuban statistics, more than 52 thousand Russian tourists visited Cuba in the first half of 2017. This is 2.2 times more than it was in January-June 2016, and 2.3 times more than it was for the same period in 2014. Thus, today Russia, based on the same statistics, is among the TOP 15 largest inbound tourism markets for Cuba with 12th place. Canada leads the inbound tourist flow to Cuba; the top five countries also include Spain, France, Italy and Germany.

According to Rosstat, for January-June 2017, 39 thousand Russian trips to Cuba were recorded. Although the absolute figures are slightly lower than those in Cuba, the increase is similar: 216% in annual terms (18 thousand trips for the same period in 2016). According to Cuban forecasts, the number of Russian tourists by the end of 2017 could reach 80 thousand people.


Hurricane Irma struck the provinces of Ciego de Avila and Camagüey (Cuba) during these hours and intensified to a maximum of category five. The wind speed at the epicenter reaches 257 km/h (71 m/s), with gusts up to 313 km/h (87 m/s).

In connection with the state of alarm in Cuba, emergency measures have been introduced that provide for the evacuation of the population from the most dangerous areas, a complete ban on the movement of vehicles and shutdown of power grids for security reasons.

An “awareness level” has been introduced about the disaster in the Cuban provinces of Sancti Spiritus, Cienfuegos and Matanzas, located to the west. They were advised to: prepare shelters, clean the streets and stockpile food supplies and fuel.

The number of Cuban residents and tourists evacuated due to the threat of a tsunami has exceeded a million people, civil defense officials of the island nation reported. People were placed in 45 evacuation centers, 39 specialized shelters or in the homes of relatives. People help each other because by helping others, you help yourself!

Earlier, a tropical storm hit the provinces of Guantanamo, Holguin and Las Tunas in eastern Cuba, indicating the approach of Hurricane Irma.

Cuban authorities are also saving animals from Hurricane Irma. For example, six dolphins were transported to safety by helicopter from a dolphinarium in the resort of Cayo Guillermo in the province of Ciego de Avila.

The consequences of storm waves in Baracoa, Cuba's Guantanamo province.

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According to media reports, as a result of the rampant disaster, four people were killed and almost 200 were injured. Meteorologists declared the tornado the strongest in the last 80 years.

Cars were buried under the rubble of buildings. Local residents are filming videos of the consequences of the disaster - destroyed houses, broken communications, washed out roads.

"There was a tornado in Havana and I can't talk to my dad to see if he's okay," the Cuba native tweeted.

“In Havana, the most affected municipalities are Santos Suarez, Luano, Regla, Lawton and Guanabacoa, local residents say. One of the guests in Cuba took a video of the streets along which the tornado passed. In a comment on his post, he wrote: “Modern images of Cuba, a country that until 1958 was the power of world tourism in the Caribbean.” However, there is nothing unusual in the video - even without a hurricane, Havana amazes tourists with its shabby appearance.

Havana still has to recover from the disaster. However, as the TourDom.ru correspondent was assured, the tornado did not hit the entire capital. There are no hotels in disaster areas where the operator accommodates tourists. Guests prefer to stay at the resort of Varadero, which is located 2-3 hours drive from the capital of Cuba. According to company representatives, the weather in the region has now returned to normal and tourists are enjoying their vacation.

The Cuban Meteorological Institute will assess the extent of the damage, but it is already known that wind speeds exceeded 100 kilometers per hour, and in some areas reached 320 kilometers per hour. Four dead and 195 wounded are known.

On the night of January 27, a rare, destructive tornado struck the Cuban capital of Havana, killing four people and injuring 195 others. Strong winds caused severe damage to buildings and caused severe flooding in low-lying areas of Havana and also affected the provinces of Pinar del Rio, Artemisa and Mayabeque, the government said.

Tornadoes in Havana and throughout Cuba are an infrequent occurrence. Waterspouts are much more common in the region, and while they sometimes make landfall, they tend to be much weaker in mileage than this weekend's tornado, said meteorologist Taylor Ward. This hurricane is already being called the strongest tornado to hit Cuba in the last 80 years.

Because of the cataclysm, even the local maternity hospital had to be evacuated: residents claimed that the tornado had the “sound of a jet engine,” and they themselves felt pressure drops. According to a statement by the Defense Council of Havana, 90 houses were completely destroyed, 30 had various damages.

A quarter of the Cuban capital's two million people were left without electricity, and more than 200,000 people lost their water supply due to a broken main and the same power outage, which rendered water pumps unusable. About a hundred underground tanks near the coastal section of Havana were contaminated with seawater.

According to officials, the tornado knocked out three electrical substations - the kind of strong hurricane Cuba has not seen since December 26, 1940, when an F4 tornado (the Fujita scale, or F-scale, was introduced by Professor Theodore Fujita in 1971 to classify tornadoes and consists of of six categories: from F0 to F5) hit the city of Bejukal. Miguel Angel Hernandez of the Cuban Meteorology Center said the tornado that happened the other day was classified as an F3.


One of the hardest-hit areas was eastern Guanabacoa, where winds ripped the roof off shelters for dozens of homeless families. Cubans, who have been waiting for long periods of time for government housing, often live for years in such multi-unit shelters. Residents of the island's coastline.

Today, Saturday, Hurricane Irma hit Cuba with deafening winds and relentless rain. The water level has risen, causing flooding. As a result, thousands of houses were flooded and power supply was cut off in some areas. In another part of the Caribbean islands, people already reeling from Irma's wrath are bracing for a second strike - Hurricane Jose .

Irma turned Liberty Island into chaos . The winds were so strong that they broke trees, knocked down poles and carried debris through the air at great speed. Eyewitnesses told the AP news agency that the provincial museum, which was located near the epicenter of the storm, now lies in ruins.

According to preliminary data, Hurricane Irma claimed at least 20 lives before he left the Caribbean islands and headed for Florida. Forecasters say the storm has slowed after hitting Cuba's northern coast, but wind speeds are likely to pick up again as it approaches the Sunshine State.

Fortunately for Miami residents, Irma has changed course and is now threatening to hit the area with full force. Tampa .

Forecasters predicted Hurricane Irma would be centered in the Florida Keys on Sunday before hitting southwest Florida, moving to the Gulf Coast and hitting the Tampa Bay area. The storm's center is expected to bypass Miami, but the city will still be exposed to life-threatening hurricane winds .

Tampa hasn't been in the path of a major hurricane since 1921, when the city's population was about 10,000. The area currently has approximately 3 million residents and covers Florida's two largest cities: Tampa and St. Petersburg.

The hurricane's abrupt change in course came as a surprise to Tampa Bay residents. Entrepreneur Jeff Beerbohm planned to ride out the storm in his high-rise condominium in downtown St. Petersburg. He carefully prepared for the “siege”, however, now he is forced to quickly evacuate, gathering at the last moment.

As part of one of the largest evacuations ever announced in the US, approx. 6.3 million people in Florida, more than a quarter of the state's population was forced to flee their homes, and another 540,000 people fled the Georgia coast. The authorities are opening hundreds of shelters for those who were unable or did not have time to leave. Hotels as far away as Atlanta are filled with evacuees.

With winds whose speed reaches 185 mph , Irma became the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the open Atlantic. And given the size and strength of this hurricane and its projected course, it may well be one of the most destructive hurricanes that have ever hit Florida.