HAVANA (Sputnik) — All Russian holidaymakers have been evacuated from northern Cuban islands before the arrival of the powerful hurricane, Irma, the spokeswoman for Russia’s Embassy in Havana said Friday.
"The Havanatur [travel agency] has informed us that all our tourists have been moved to safe places in Varadero," Nadezhda Sergieva said, adding Cuban authorities were in close contact with the mission.
Irma, the strongest storm to hit the Atlantic in a decade, strengthened back to category 5 on Friday night. It has maximum sustained winds of 160 miles per hour.
The hurricane made landfall on Cuba’s Camaguey archipelago and is predicted to move near the northern coast of Cuba through Saturday before reaching the US state of Florida.
