Cuba Is on Alert for Storm Ida

On Friday, the Juventud Island and the provinces of Mayabeque, Havana, Artemisa, and Pinar del Rio went into the "cyclonic alarm" phase because of the imminent arrival of tropical storm Ida.

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In the early hours of the day, Ida was about 190 kilometers southeast of Punta del Este and was heading northwest at 24 kilometers per hour. The Cuban Civil Defense decreed the "information phase" for the provinces in the center of the country, namely, Sancti Spiritus, Villa Clara, and Cienfuegos.

According to current protocols, the "alarm" phase is established 24 hours before the impact of any meteorological phenomenon. Before reaching this phase, the authorities must decree an "informational" phase and an "alert" phase.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned that Ida could become a Category 3 hurricane when it enters the warmer part of the Gulf of Mexico, likely heading for the Louisiana coast.

Since July, Cuba has been in the path of cyclones such as Tropical Storm Elsa, Depression Fred and Hurricane Grace, which dumped rain on the west of the island without causing serious damage.

The last time a large hurricane seriously affected Cubans was in 2017, when Irma traveled the north coast of the island from east to west, leaving 10 dead and significant material losses.

The current cyclone season in the Atlantic Ocean, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, is expected to be active as several hurricanes will circulate through the Caribbean. Meteorologists hold there is an 85 percent probability that Cuba will be hit by one of them.