JAVANA: Hurricane Irma battered central Cuba on Saturday, knocking down power lines, uprooting trees and ripping off roofs as it headed toward Florida, authorities and witnesses said.
After leaving at least 19 people dead on its path across the Caribbean, Irma was “seriously” damaging the center of the island with winds up to 256 km per hour, Cuban state media said.
Irma weakened slightly to Category 4 early Saturday after making landfall in Cuba, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).
There were no confirmed casualties in Cuba.
The state meteorological service INSMET reported waves of up to 7 meters on the northern coast.
“It has now stopped raining, but all night there was a terrible wind” which ripped up trees, knocked down power lines and damaged roofs, said Gisela Fernandez, a 42-year-old nurse in central Villa Clara province.
In the province’s main city Caibarien, an AFP reporter said deafening gusts of wind were sweeping the area and 6,250 people had been evacuated to state refuges or other peoples’ homes.
Others were shut up in their houses.
A large part of the center and east of the island was without power, television reports said.
The governor of the central Camaguey province, Isabel Gonzalez, speaking on national television, reported “major damage,” without giving further details.
Irma is expected to strike the Florida Keys late Saturday and Sunday before moving inland.
“Some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or two, but Irma is expected to remain a powerful hurricane as it approaches Florida,” the NHC said in a public advisory.
Some 5.6 million people there faced orders to evacuate.
In Cuba, more than a million people were evacuated as a precaution, authorities said.
Another Category 4 hurricane, Jose, was also swirling in the Atlantic with winds of up to 150 miles per hour.
It was heading toward the same string of Caribbean islands Irma had pummeled in the days before.
And Hurricane Katia struck the eastern coast of Mexico late Friday as a Category One storm, but was downgraded to a tropical storm after making landfall.
Katia was “beginning to stall” near the Sierra Madre mountains — though heavy rainfall would still “likely cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, especially in areas of mountainous terrain,” the NHC said.
Hurricane Irma batters Cuba on way to Florida
Hurricane Irma batters Cuba on way to Florida
Australia holds day of reflection to honor victims of Bondi Beach attack
- The gun attack, Australia’s worst in nearly 30 years, is being investigated as an act of terrorism targeting Jews
SYDNEY: Australia held a day of reflection on Sunday to honor those killed and wounded in a mass shooting that targeted a seaside Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach a week ago.
The gun attack, Australia’s worst in nearly 30 years, is being investigated as an act of terrorism targeting Jews. Authorities have ramped up patrols and policing across the country to prevent further antisemitic violence.
Australian flags were flown at half-mast on Sunday on federal and New South Wales state government buildings, with an official minute of silence to be held at 6:47 p.m. local time.
Authorities also invited Australians to light a candle on Sunday night “as a quiet act of remembrance with family, friends or loved ones” of the 15 people killed and dozens wounded in the attack, allegedly carried out by a father and son.
“At 6:47 p.m., you can light a candle in your window to remember the victims of the antisemitic terrorist attack in Bondi and support those who are grieving,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on social media platform X late on Saturday.
Albanese, under pressure from critics who say his center-left government has not done enough to curb a surge in antisemitism since Israel launched its war in Gaza, has vowed to strengthen hate laws in the wake of the massacre.
On Saturday, the government of New South Wales, which includes Sydney, pledged to introduce a bill on Monday to ban the display of symbols and flags of “terrorist organizations,” including those of Al-Qaeda, Al Shabab, Boko Haram, Hamas, Hezbollah and Daesh.
Around 1,000 surf lifesavers returned to duty at Bondi Beach on Saturday, restarting patrols after a halt sparked by the shooting on the first evening of the Jewish festival.
A day earlier, Australia’s Jewish community gathered at Bondi Beach for prayers, while hundreds of swimmers and surfers formed a huge circle in the waters off the beach to honor victims.
Alleged gunman Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene. His 24-year-old son Naveed Akram, who was also shot by police and emerged from a coma on Tuesday afternoon, has been charged with 59 offenses, including murder and terrorism, according to police. He remained in custody in hospital.
Authorities believe the pair was inspired by militant Sunni Muslim group Daesh, with flags of the group allegedly found in the car the two took to Bondi.
