HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 5 (ACN) Only two hydrometeorological phenomena impacted Havana from 1791 to 2019 in July, so the presence of tropical storm Elsa is one of the most unusual cases of the seasoned hydrometeorology in Cuba.
The first of them was number 76, which, without a name, occurred in 1933 with moderate intensity and category two on the Saffir-Simpson scale, out of five possible, depending on the strength of the wind and the probable damage and destruction it can cause.
A hurricane named Dennis was in second place in 2005, when it left the national territory in the vicinity of Bacuranao, in East Havana municipality.
Although it caused human and material damages in the provinces of Granma and Cienfuegos, it reached Havana as a category one hurricane, without causing any major damage.
Luis Enrique Ramos Guadalupe, coordinator of the History Commission of the Cuban Meteorological Society, told the Cuban News Agency that tropical storm Elsa is an uncommon example in the hurricane season
Ramos Guadalupe is one of the authors of the above-mentioned chronology from 1791-2019 in coordination with the Provincial Meteorological Center of Havana, Artemisa and Mayabeque, according to which, October and September are the months of greatest affectation caused to Havana with 43 and 36 hurricanes, respectively.
Category 1 and 2 hurricanes are the most damaging to the capital, according to the same historians,
Both these and the cyclones have been classified for years in five categories, whose strength and intensity are measured by the Saffir-Simpson scale, created to define and classify them by the speed of their winds to offer an idea of the magnitude of the losses from minimal to catastrophic, according to specialists in the matter.
A grading of this type was designed in 1969 by U.S. engineer Herbert Saffir and the director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center, Robert Simpson, at the request of the United Nations to analyze the damage caused by such hydrometeorological phenomena.
Accordingly, hurricanes, cyclones or typhoons are formed when their maximum sustained wind speeds reach or exceed 119 kilometers per hour.
Category one is the least intense and is assigned when winds are 119 to 153 kilometers per hour and cause damage to vegetation and piers, as well as flooding of highways and coastal roads.
Category two hurricanes have winds of 154 to 177 kilometers per hour, causing moderate damage and minimal damage to docks, houses, buildings, vegetation, and flooding on coastal roads.
A category three hurricane has maximum winds between 178 and 209 kilometers per hour, whose presence may cause partial destruction of houses, coastal buildings and anchorages, the toppling of tall trees, damaged and windblown signs, and storm surges that flood coastal areas.
Hurricanes four have winds of 210 to 249 kilometers per hour and are considered to cause considerable losses, including the collapse of houses, coastal buildings and dikes, the toppling of vegetation, as well as partial erosion of beaches and flooding of flat land below three meters.
Meanwhile, the winds of hurricanes five reach or exceed 250 kilometers per hour; their impact is usually catastrophic due to the total collapse of roofs and walls in houses, as well as facilities in general.
