A person stands on the pier as hurricane Irma approaches, in Havana, Cuba, Sept. 9, 2017. Hurricane Irma began to slowly move away from north-central Cuba late Saturday afternoon, after buffeting the island's coast with category-five winds and rain. (Xinhua/Joaquin Hernandez)
HAVANA, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Hurricane Irma began to slowly move away from north-central Cuba late Saturday afternoon, after buffeting the island's coast with category-five winds and rain.
In the central province of Villa Clara, storm surge caused coastal waters to rise more than 500 meters inland.
Maximum sustained winds of 160 km per hour, and gusts of 213 km per hour, knocked down trees, lamp posts and even ripped some park benches from the ground, according to Radio Reloj news.
While it was too soon to assess the hurricane's overall impact on coastal communities, authorities were aware of damage to some homes and electric lines, the radio station reported.
More than 6,000 people had been evacuated to higher ground in preparation for the arrival of Irma, which mostly grazed the island's coastline.
"Eye of Irma beginning to move slowly away from the coast of Cuba while weather is deteriorating in south Florida," where the hurricane is headed, the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported.
