An elderly man from Guantánamo was overcome with emotion upon receiving aid from fellow Cubans after his home was nearly destroyed by the floods brought on by Hurricane Oscar. A video shared on Instagram by "El Pibe Cubano" captures the heartfelt moment when compassionate individuals presented the man with a refrigerator and essential supplies like chicken and oil.
"Thank you, man. Thank you, damn it. I have no words to express my gratitude or explain... I have no life, every day is just sadness, bitterness, something that drives me crazy," he tearfully expressed. According to El Pibe, this man is the grandfather of a child whose home was swept away by the floods. The child miraculously survived and is currently hospitalized at the pediatric hospital in Guantánamo after undergoing surgery on his leg, while his mother and stepfather remain missing.
Community Spirit in the Face of Tragedy
"I urge you all, may God grant you life and health, to continue moving forward and helping as many people as you can," added the elderly man, who resides in the Macambo area, San Antonio del Sur municipality. Deeply moved, El Pibe mentioned that more people would come to assist and shared various ways to send donations on his Facebook page.
Hurricane Oscar struck San Antonio del Sur with great intensity, causing seawater to invade inland and water levels to rise over five feet in some regions. Entire communities were submerged, leaving homes partially or completely damaged, and residents lost their belongings as rivers and streams like Sabanalamar and Los Ciguatos rapidly overflowed.
Voices of Despair Amid the Waters
Numerous residents recounted, through tears, the harrowing hours of fear and desperation as they struggled to save whatever they could from their flooded homes. "The water was up to our necks," one neighbor told El Pibe. "We climbed on top of a closet to save the three children we had with us," he added.
Another neighbor, her voice breaking, described how her possessions were swept away by the floodwaters. "I lost everything. I didn’t even have time to save the mattresses. The sea rushed in so quickly we couldn't do anything," she lamented.
"The hardest part was hearing the children cry," a father recounted. "They didn't understand what was happening; they just knew that water surrounded us and everything was getting soaked. We didn't know if we would make it through this."