Cuba airlifts dolphins to safety as Hurricane Irma lashes island

Cuba airlifted six of its dolphins to safety from a Cuban dolphinarium on Friday, before Hurricane Irma lashed the island. The hurricane is one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century to hit the island. Irma continues to wreak havoc in its path, causing massive damage to life and property.

Irma battered the  Camaguey Archipelago of Cuba on Saturday, and is likely to hit Florida in the United States as a category five storm by early Sunday morning between 5 am and 7 am ET, according to reports. The powerful storm has claimed 19 lives so far, and has rendered thousands homeless within days.

Reports state that authorities in Cuba wrapped all the six dolphins in wet towels to ensure that they travelled safely in the helicopters, without much discomfort. The marine creatures were then evacuated from the north of the country to the province of Cienfuegos, according to Fox News reports.

The dolphins were later put in a swimming pool for the time being. Officials however have said that they could be moved again once the hurricane subsided. 

Dolphinarum manager Gonzalo Carrero Escobar said the pool offered the dolphins "similar conditions to their natural life. However, "If the weather situation does not allow us to keep them there, they will be displaced to the saltwater swimming pool of a hotel," he added.

According to Miami Herald's reports, waves as high as 23 feet slammed into Cuba's eathern towns, causing flooding and power outages in the region. More than 25,000 people were reportedly evacuated from the city before the hurricane hit the area.

"Luckily we have only experienced rains, sea penetrations and some winds ... but sincerely, nothing compared to what we were expecting," a local radio station in Baracoa city wrote on Facebook.

Seeking refuge in underground military bunkers

Some of the residents in the hurricane hit Cuba also sought refuge in underground military bunkers as they wait for the storm to die down. 

NBC news reported that families waited out the worst of the storm while huddling in blankets and stacking donated food in the dingy caves. These bunkers were built more than 20 years ago, when the Cuban regime feared that it would be attacked by America. 

One of Havana's main hospitals, Hermanos Almejeiras, also took precautionary measures and moved all patients to the sixth, seventh and eighth floors of the building ahead of the storm.