Destruction Enormous!!
Cuba's easternmost city, Baracoa, has mostly been destroyed by Hurricane Matthew. This AP photo shows an elderly Cuban woman and a young boy walking through rubble in Baracoa.
Photos courtesy of Ramon Espinosa/Associated Press reveal that some areas of the five most eastern Cuban provinces were devastated by Hurricane Matthew. The woman above is crying as she sits in the rubble of her home in Baracoa, the "picture-postcard tourist town" in Guantanamo Province. Baracoa has 85,000 residents and is one of Cuba's oldest settlements; it was visited in 1492 by Christopher Columbus.
Hurricane Matthew as it reached Baracoa, Cuba.
Rubble in Baracoa left behind by Hurricane Matthew.
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As you can see on this map, Baracoa is located on the eastern tip of Cuba northeast of Guantanamo. The historic Columbus visit to Baracoa occurred on October 27, 1492. According to his log, it was where the famed explorer noted that Cuba was "the most beautiful land these eyes have seen." Baracoa became the first capital of Cuba before losing that honor to the much larger cities of Santiago de Cuba and Havana. Still a strong tourist attraction on Cuba's picturesque southeastern coast, Baracoa will need much time and lots of help as its 85,000 residents cope with and try to recover from Matthew's very chilling effects.
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