Havana, November 4 (RHC)-- The National General Staff of the Civil Defense (EMNDC) of Cuba has declared the Hurricane Alert phase in the western provinces in view of the strengthening of a major tropical storm, which is expected to increase in category.

According to the EMNDC statement, it is presumed that in the next few hours the meteorological agency will become a tropical storm and, later, a hurricane due to its progressive strengthening during its transit through the seas of the southern Caribbean.

The Hurricane Alert phase will be in effect from 3:00 p.m. on Monday for the provinces of Matanzas, Mayabeque, Havana, Artemisa, Pinar del Río and the Isla de la Juventud Special Municipality, due to the possibility of a direct impact from a hurricane, the government agency said.

At 1:00 p.m. (local time), the tropical depression was located south of Jamaica and was moving north at a speed of about 15 kilometers per hour (km/h), according to the Cuban Meteorological Institute Forecast Center.

The wide circulation of the meteorological event will cause, from the afternoon and evening of this Monday, rain, showers and thunderstorms in the central and western regions, the EMNDC specified.

It also details that in the eastern region, rain will persist and may be locally intense.

The rest of the provinces in the center and east of the Caribbean island must pay attention to the evolution and trajectory of the weather phenomenon and reinforce measures to protect people and their property, as well as the resources of the economy.

The EMNDC advised citizens to stay informed through the media and official profiles on social networks, and assured that, together with the Meteorological and National Institutes of Hydraulic Resources, it will be vigilant about this new meteorological situation.