According to Civil Defense, 316,000 people have been evacuated as a result of a preventive measure in eastern Cuba, due to the imminent impact of Hurricane Matthew in the Caribbean.
Luis Angel Macareño, from the Civil Defense Department, explained that the population at risk was taken mostly to private homes and shelters.
The government of the island activated a “hurricane warning” in 6 provinces (Camagüey, Las Tunas, Holguín, Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo) in the East, which are expected to be hit by the hurricane with strong winds and rain on Tuesday.
President Raúl Castro is coordinating the emergency plan, in addition to the evacuations, the mobilization of lifeguards, tree trimming, food storage and maintainance of drains and roofs.
With maximum winds of 220 km / h, Matthew is a powerful, category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, which slowly moves through the Caribbean at 11 km / h.