The entire weekend was worked without rest, in a parallel manner, focused on cleaning, sanitation and on the rescue and salvation of hundreds of people.

The President of the National Defence Council, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, recognised this weekend the combatants of the FAR and of the MININT who have carried out hundreds of rescue operations in the East of the country, and affirmed that to erase the enormous damages caused by Melissa, «a great hurricane of work and much cooperation» will be needed.

Erasing the traces of Melissa will not be a simple task. The rains associated with the powerful meteorological phenomenon have left unprecedented floods in some territories, in which the evacuation of thousands of people has been necessary in risky rescue operations by air, in boats and by train.

The president of the National Defence Council recognised on X the combatants of the FAR and the MININT for the admirable skill and heroism assumed in this important mission.

During the weekend, hundreds of inhabitants from the Granma municipality of Río Cauto, affected by the dangerous floods, continued arriving in Las Tunas. In the provincial capital and in the municipalities of Jobabo and Colombia, several evacuation centres have been set up to guarantee the protection of some 2,400 people.

The health response in the territories impacted by the hurricane was also intensified, with an emphasis on attention to vulnerable communities. The strengthening of epidemiological surveillance, the deployment of medical brigades, the distribution of essential supplies and the activation of prevention protocols for possible outbreaks stand out.

The Minister of Transport, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, informed on Facebook about the severe damage to the railway line to Santiago de Cuba. The damages include the Central Line, between kilometres 833 and 834.5.

The brigades from the electrical and telecommunications sectors are working tirelessly in several cities and communities in the East, with the purpose of re-establishing those services in the shortest time possible.