The death toll from Hurricane Eta is growing.
And even weakened and downgraded like a storm, it still risks causing a lot of damage.
After hitting Central America, the tropical storm hit Cuba this Sunday, with strong winds and heavy rains.
It will then win the Atlantic towards Florida, where it should gain in intensity again.
No immediate casualties or damage were reported, but the island of Cuba will still experience rains and swells.
At 9 a.m. (3 p.m. in France), the storm "left the earth by the north coast near Chambas", in the central province of Ciego de Avila, a territory that it crossed from South to North from 4:30 ( 10:30 am in France), according to the Cuban Institute of Meteorology (Insmet).
The Institute reported winds measured up to 95 km / h, with stronger gusts.
The storm, which is moving at a speed of 19 km / h north / northeast, has swept tourist sites in the Jardines del Rey archipelago.
According to state television, the 600 foreign tourists who were there had been sheltered.
Thousands of people evacuated
Heavy rains were reported in the eastern part of Cuba, where civil defense and local authorities had evacuated thousands of people to safe areas for fear of flooding, as the soils were already waterlogged and the reservoirs full.
According to forecasters, Eta is on his way to the Keys and the Florida peninsula and is expected to "strengthen further after passing through the Atlantic Ocean."
"It is expected that the intensity will be close to that of a hurricane when it passes over the Florida Keys," writes Insmet.
My Now photo: Tropical Storm Eta in Miami.
pic.twitter.com/MDNZfTzM9l
- Lyndall Lambert (@LyndyMiami) November 8, 2020
In its path, the storm is expected to cause heavy rains over the western half of Cuba, with the risk of marine submersion as well.
150 dead in Guatemala
Florida Governor Ron De Santis declared a state of emergency in southern counties on Saturday.
Schools will be closed in the Southern Keys on Monday, Covid-19 test sites have been temporarily closed and authorities have opened shelters and started distributing sandbags so people can protect their homes from flooding.
Newsletter My Earth
Every week, the environmental news seen by Le Parisien
I'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to enable you to receive our news and commercial offers.
Learn more
Eta, which made landfall on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua on Tuesday in a powerful category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 km / h, gradually weakened as it passed Nicaragua and Honduras.
đđđđđđđđ |
Graves inundaciones en Alamikamba por el desborde del rio #Prinzapolka a causa del # HuracĂĄnETA, neither the sede de la alcaldĂa municipal, nor the local juzgado escapan del agua.
pic.twitter.com/vnOrJKxxpV
- Gilberto Artola (@gilbertoartola) November 6, 2020
Its torrential rains also affected Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, as well as Mexico, where the authorities of Chiapas, one of the poorest states of the country, announced the discovery of at least twenty dead, for most of them washed away by flooding rivers.
The heaviest toll is in Guatemala, with at least 150 dead or missing, and on Saturday rescuers continued to search for survivors after the landslide caused by the hurricane in the indigenous village of Queja, in the north of the country.
TodavĂa hay muchas personas que necesitan ayuda #Honduras y la #JTFBravo #WingedWarriors continĂșan apoyando los equipos de rescates durante Ă©stos tiempos difĂciles.
@Southcom pic.twitter.com/AoTdpo0fIc
- Joint Task Force-Bravo (@jtfbravo) November 8, 2020
In Honduras, authorities on Saturday announced a death toll of at least 23 after heavy flooding.