Havana Under Siege: Storms Isolate the Cuban Capital

An extraordinary cold wave swept over the northern coast of Cuba on Tuesday, flooding streets with seawater, leading to power outages in various areas, and scattering debris and fallen tree branches in the capital, Havana. Wind speeds reached 100 kilometers per hour in the west of the island as storms and strong winds moved southward from Florida, which experienced similar conditions earlier this week. Residents of Havana stayed indoors overnight amidst frequent power cuts but slowly ventured into the streets on Tuesday morning wearing jackets and hats as temperatures plummeted to 12 degrees Celsius, an unusually cold weather for Cuba. At dawn, water flowed through some streets of the city like coastal rivers, carrying sea lanterns, seaweed, and debris several buildings inland. Jacqueline Dalardis, a Havana resident, stated, "This is really something new... we are not used to this kind of cold... the climate has changed." Scientists and urban planners noted that the coastal city of Havana, built centuries ago on the Gulf of Mexico, is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels and increased storms caused by human-induced climate change. According to the United Nations Development Programme, more than a third of the population of 2.2 million lives in areas at risk of water encroachment. Rising sea levels threaten some coastal cities like Havana and may completely erase low-lying countries in areas of the South Pacific from maps.