Relocated Guantanamo families kept eye on Matthew
PENSACOLA, Fla. — Hundreds of evacuees from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay Cuba kept busy Tuesday exploring their temporary home as they kept a watchful eye on Hurricane Matthew.
The Navy sent 700 military dependents from Cuba to Pensacola Naval Air Station on Sunday when the major hurricane took a course toward the U.S. military base.
Amy Lynn Culpepper, wife of Guantanamo Bay base commander Capt. David Culpepper, and her 11-year-old daughter had just six hours to pack up and leave the base. Culpepper has been in regular contact with her husband, who was still at the base Tuesday.
"We are watching to see just how close the eye wall comes to the base," said Culpepper.
Capt. Culpepper told American Forces Radio station early Tuesday that it was likely the base would see some damage. Tuesday evening, the National Hurricane Center predicted Hurricane Matthew would bring storm surge, extreme winds, heavy rains, flash flooding and mud slides to Cuba, Haiti and the Bahamas.
Hurricane Matthew made landfall Tuesday night in Cuba. The powerful category 4 storm was carrying maximum sustained winds of 140 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. Guantanamo Bay Naval Base lost power Tuesday afternoon as the storm made its approach toward Cuba.
"The most important thing is that everybody is alive and well and has all their fingers and toes at the end of this event," he said.
As of 5 a.m. ET Wednesday, Hurricane Matthew was about 65 miles north-northwest of the eastern tip of Cuba. The Cuban provinces of Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Granma and Las Tunas was under hurricane warning.
U.S. military officials said the remaining 61 detainees held in Guantanamo would shelter in place at the prison.
The relocated families are staying in a hotel on the Pensacola Navy base.
Tables filled with children's books, diapers, toys, baby blankets, food and other items lined the hotel conference room Tuesday.
The evacuees included about 250 children of all ages. Culpepper said some of the children had to leave Cuba without their parents, who were required to stay because of their jobs.
"Some of the kids are really struggling with that," she said.
Culpepper teared up while talking about her family's 4-year-old Great Pyrenees dog, Tucker, who had to stay behind with her husband. The Navy only allowed families who had no one staying behind to take their pets with them to Pensacola. Culpepper said Tucker was staying in the secure shelter with her husband.
About 4,800 service members stayed behind to ride out the storm at the base.
"They're largely kept in solid, concrete buildings ... (and) there are plenty of places there where they can be sheltered in place and kept secure," Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told Paste BN.
Natelvi Archuleta, a counselor for the Guantanamo Bay base school, left Cuba on Sunday with her three children, ages 17, 15 and 7.
"It's been an adventure for the kids," said Archuleta, who entertained her youngest son, Orlando, with a board game in the hotel conference center Tuesday afternoon.
The family had to leave Cuba quickly and the kids have been too busy since to spend much time worrying about what they left behind, she said.
"I have insurance and everything is replaceable," she said.
The many activities planned by the Pensacola base also helped the families keep their minds off the hurricane, she said.
The base's Fleet and Family Support and Morale Welfare and Recreation centers have organized movie nights, trips to area museums, shopping excursions, beach days and other activities.
"All of the distractions have really helped," Archuleta said. She said her kids really enjoyed the pizza and movie night Monday.
Navy officials said Tuesday they did not know when the families would be able to return to Guantanamo Bay.
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