Hurricane Ian struck the western tip of the island, left millions of Cubans without power and is headed towards Florida

The hurricane knocked out power across all of Cuba. Initially, there was loss of power in the western provinces, but later the entire grid collapsed. That meant nearly 11 million people were left without electricity. Hurricane Ian made landfall as a Category 3 storm and devastated Pinar del Rio province. That meant destruction of large numbers of the country's most important tobacco farms. The authorities had to arrange evacuation of tens of thousands of people as the disaster left behind damaged houses and floods. The US National Hurricane Center said Cuba suffered "significant wind and storm surge impacts." The hurricane had struck with top sustained winds of 125mph and it could gain strength as it moves over the Gulf of Mexico and nears the southwestern coast of Florida. Already orders are given for millions of people of Florida to leave. Hurricane Ian leaves 11 million in Cuba without electricity as it heads towards Florida. Warning is given to residents as well as holidaymakers to take precautions and not be complacent. This is because the hurricane could become a Category 4 storm, with wind speeds of 140mph across the whole state.

Deanne Criswell, spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), held an emergency briefing at the White House. She summed up the grim situation and said - “The storm surge is going to be significant, and you put 20 inches of rain on top of that…. We are talking about impacts in parts of Florida that haven't seen a major direct impact in nearly 100 years." Incidentally, Hurricane Ian is heading towards the Florida Keys. This is a popular holiday destination consisting several islands, some less than a mile wide. US President Joe Biden cancelled a planned trip and called mayors in three Florida cities to assure them federal support is ready to deploy food, fuel and shelter. FEMA has already set up 29 emergency community shelters. Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, has declared a state of emergency and urged residents to be prepared. There are predictions of floods for much of the Florida peninsula midweek. This could lead to heavy rainfall for the southeast of the US later this week.

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No respite for Gaza – UN declares emergency after sudden floods

Over 400,000 Palestinians are trying to come to terms after having been displaced from their homes due to the 50-day summer conflict with Israel that came to an end in August. However, their lives are in turmoil again because of the sudden floods following two days of heavy rains – it has forced the UN to declare a state of emergency in Gaza Strip.
There are no reports of any casualty but hundreds of people have been evacuated and 63 schools are closed for the day in Gaza City.
It may be recalled that in October, international donors had pledged $5.4bn for rebuilding Gaza. But the heavy rains struck the small territory at a difficult time – even now, thousands of Gazan families still live in communal shelters or the ruins of their own homes after the conflict.
Moreover, in the Shejaiya neighborhood, where air strikes during the recent conflict had damaged many of the buildings, the residents are already in the grip of a cold and severe winter without any electricity or water.
The conflict in Gaza ended in August based on an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire – it was called between Israel and the Palestinians and under the agreement Israel agreed to ease its eight-year blockade of Gaza, while Egypt would re-open its border crossing and the militant groups and Israel would cease hostilities.
As per UN reports, the seven-week Gaza conflict that finally ended in a truce on 26 August had resulted in death of over 2,100 Palestinians, most of them civilians. The casualties also included 67 Israeli soldiers and six civilians in Israel.