page_title: Hurricane Irma
section_title: Cuba
hierarchical_section_title: Hurricane Irma / Impact / Cuba
caption_attribution_description: English: Admiral Didiez Burgos in Havana.jpg
context_page_description: Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two weeks later. At the time, it was considered as the most powerful hurricane on record in the open Atlantic region, outside of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico until it was surpassed by Hurricane Dorian two years later. It was also the third strongest Atlantic hurricane at landfall ever recorded, just behind the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane and Hurricane Dorian.
  The ninth named storm, fourth hurricane, second major hurricane, and first Category 5 hurricane of the 2017 season, Irma caused widespread and catastrophic damage throughout its long lifetime, particularly in the northeastern Caribbean and the Florida Keys. It was also the most intense hurricane to strike the continental United States since Katrina in 2005, the first major hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Wilma in the same year, and the first Category 4 hurricane to strike the state since Charley in 2004.
context_section_description: Early on September 9, Irma made landfall on the Camagüey Archipelago off the northern coast of Cuba, with sustained winds of 165 mph (270 km/h). The strongest official sustained wind speed was 124 mph (200 km/h), while the highest wind gust reached 159 mph (256 km/h); both were observed near Camila in Ciego de Ávila Province. The weather station at Esmeralda, Camagüey, was damaged, with the wind gauge destroyed. The north coast of Cuba experienced significant coastal flooding due to storm surge and abnormally high tides generated by the storm. Wave heights at Cayo Romano exceeded 26 ft (7.9 m). Storm surge penetrated as far as 1.2 mi (1.9 km) inland in some areas of Villa Clara Province. Multiple locations on the island observed at least 10 in (250 mm) of rainfall, with a peak total of 23.9 in (610 mm) of precipitation at Topes de Collantes.
  A total of 158,554 homes experienced some degree of damage, of which 14,657 were destroyed; approximately 1.9 million people experienced the direct effects of Irma. The storm partially deroofed 103,691 homes, while 23,560 were completely deroofed. Irma damaged or destroyed 980 health facilities and 2,264 schools. Approximately 3.1 million people experienced disruptions to the water supply, while 246,707 people lost telephone service. About 334 mi (538 km) of roads were damaged. Crops also suffered extensively, with nearly 235,000 acres (95,000 ha) affected by the storm. Throughout the country, the hurricane inflicted $13.185 billion in damage and killed 10 people, making Irma the costliest tropical cyclone in Cuban history.
  The tourist areas of Cayo Coco, Cayo Guillermo and Cayo Santa María and the nearby town of Caibarién received the brunt of the storm, with waves rolling through town and the characteristic one-story homes completely flooded. The storm most severely Ciego de Ávila and Villa Clara provinces. Flooding worsened as the hurricane moved west, pushing the storm surge along to the regions around Havana. By the afternoon, limited flooding was occurring in Havana, including around the Malecón. Portions of province coastal flooding surpassing that which was experienced during the Storm of the Century in 1993 and Hurricane Wilma in 2005. In the city of Santa Clara, 39 buildings collapsed. Rainfall resulted in several rivers reaching major flood stage. The town of Cabaiguán in Sancti Spíritus Province in particular suffered extensive inland flooding after the Zaza River swelled.
  Hurricane Irma directly affected a major colony of American flamingos on Cuba's northern Cayo Coco. Early reports from Diario de Cuba indicated that several hundred flamingos had been killed by the storm, though other estimates ranged as high as several thousand birds.
caption: Patrol boat Admiral Didiez Burgos of the Dominican Navy delivering disaster supplies in Havana Harbor after Hurricane Irma.[157]
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