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HAVANA, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Cuba declared a state of emergency in six eastern provinces on Monday morning as Hurricane Matthew approached the country.
According to the daily Granma, Cuba's civil defense bureau decided to set up a state of emergency in the provinces of Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Granma, Las Tunas and Camaguey. Furthermore, the central provinces of Cienfuegos, Villa Clara, Sancti Spiritus and Ciego de Avila are to remain on high alert.
Cuba's meteorology institute, Insmet, said that Matthew, with sustained wind speed of 215 km/h, was 525km south of Guantanamo at 6:00 a.m. and was moving slowly north at just 9 km/h.
The head of Cuba's civil defense, Ramon Pardo Guerra, said in a statement that "there is no time to lose" and called on the population to maintain "discipline, precaution, awareness and solidarity."
Evacuations have begun, with over 50,000 people evacuated from the provinces of Guantanamo and Santiago de Cuba and taken to state buildings, churches and other shelters.
Furthermore, civil defense teams are accelerating preventive measures, such as securing trees which could threaten homes, checking on electricity and telephone lines, cleaning sewage drains and taking down billboards.
In an interview with Cuban state television, Insmet's forecast director, Jose Rubiera, warned that once Matthew approaches Cuba on Monday night, waves could reach four meters in height.
