When missing just 22 days for four years Hurricane Sandy traverse from south to north to this city, its inhabitants are again under threat of another powerful weather phenomenon.
At least twice well remembered Easterners and santiagueros particularly, October brings the anathema of those natural events and the sad desolation left behind; first Flora in 1963, most recently Sandy in 2012 and now the imminence of Matthew.
On the first occasion, although the city was not the vortex of those strong winds and downpours, it felt its negative impact as the capital of the former Oriente province, where human and material toll transcended forever in the memory of the Cubans.
The image of then Prime Minister Fidel Castro, among those flooded land and saddened faces of its inhabitants, went down in history as one of those moments that seal the empathy of a leader and his people.
The presence of Cuban President Raul Castro, a few hours after the violent eruption of the cyclone in the early hours of that Thursday 25, 2012, breathed optimism to Santiago and accompanied them in the tragic minutes when the city almost succumbed to the fierce gusts winds.
Given the closeness of Matthew and certain probability that crosses the east, the president is here again and with several ministers headed government decisions strung to the protection of human lives and material resources, as well as the days of the recuperation.
After these more than five decades, Cubans have learned to deal better with these natural inclinations, typical of the tropical geography, and the most encouraging result of that learning is that more and more tiny deaths of people, especially when compared to other latitudes.
In a tight bundle of authorities and people, continuously and by all means it flows timely information about what to do in each case and adopt the relevant strategy, with the certainty that no citizen will be helpless, even amid recognized materials strictures.
Occasional rain and moderate airs this Saturday coloring time in the city and operate as a prediction, as they do and sea flooding and consequent interruptions road for several communities of the marine and mountain municipality of Guamá.
In the midst of a severe drought that remains below 40 percent reservoir capacity in the province, the best and most expected consequence of Matthew is that its rains alleviate this scenario and, like the winds, come to this troubled land in your exact dose.