Considered now the fiercest hurricane to hit this country in the last half a century, and in spite of the heavy damage it left behind, Cubans felt relieved when they heard at midnight that the storm was moving away from the island.

According to the Forecast Center of the Cuban Institute of Meteorology, the category 5 hurricane was located at 22.1 degrees latitude North and 85.5 degrees longitude West, at about 35 miles off Cape San Antonio, the westernmost tip of Cuba.

The weather report still predicted that severe conditions would be maintained through Tuesday, mostly due to the wide area of rain carried by the system that is moving at 9 miles per hour in a North Northwest direction, threatening the US Gulf Coast states from the Florida Panhandle through Louisiana.

Round-the-clock TV broadcasts with reports from several locations have confirmed to Cubans they have been spared the worse, compared to the havoc the storm wreaked all through the Caribbean.

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