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Tag: Havana

  • US reopening visa and consular services at embassy in Cuba

    US reopening visa and consular services at embassy in Cuba

    HAVANA — The United States Embassy in Cuba is reopening visa and consular services Wednesday, the first time it has done so since a spate of unexplained health incidents among diplomatic staff in 2017 slashed the American presence in Havana.

    The Embassy confirmed this week it will begin processing immigrant visas, with a priority placed on permits to reunite Cubans with family in the U.S., and others like the diversity visa lottery.

    The resumption comes amid the greatest migratory flight from Cuba in decades, which has placed pressure on the Biden administration to open more legal pathways to Cubans and start a dialogue with the Cuban government, despite a historically tense relationship.

    They are anticipated to give out at least 20,000 visas a year, though it’s just a drop in the bucket of the migratory tide, which is fueled by intensifying economic and political crises on the island.

    In late December, U.S. authorities reported stopping Cubans 34,675 times along the Mexico border in November, up 21% from 28,848 times in October.

    Month-to-month, that number has gradually risen. Cubans are now the second-largest nationality after Mexicans appearing on the border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows.

    The growing migration is due to a complex array of factors, including economic, energy and political crises, as well deep discontent among Cubans.

    While the vast majority of Cuban migrants head to the U.S. via flights to Nicaragua and cross by land at the U.S. border with Mexico, thousands more have also taken a dangerous voyage by sea. They travel 90 miles to the Florida coast, often arriving in rickety, precariously constructed boats packed with migrants.

    The exodus from Cuba is also compounded by rising migration to the U.S. from other countries like Haiti and Venezuela, forcing the U.S. government to grapple with a growingly complex situation on its southern border.

    The renewal of visa work at the embassy comes after a series of migration talks and visits by U.S. officials to Havana in recent months, and may also be the sign of a slow thawing between the two governments.

    “Engaging in these talks underscores our commitment to pursuing constructive discussions with the government of Cuba where appropriate to advance U.S. interests,” the U.S. Embassy said in a statement in November following an American delegation’s visit to Cuba.

    The small steps are far cry from relations under President Barack Obama, who eased many American Cold War-era sanctions during his time in office and made a historic visit to the island in 2016.

    Visa and consular services were closed on the island in 2017 after embassy staff were affflicted in a series of health incidents, alleged sonic attacks that remain largely unexplained.

    As a result, many Cubans who wanted to legally migrate to the U.S. have had to fly to places like Guyana to do so before migrating or reuniting with family.

    While relations have always been tense between Cuba and the U.S., they were heightened following the embassy closure and the Trump administration’s tightening of sanctions on Cuba.

    Under President Joe Biden, the U.S. has eased some restrictions on things like remittances and family travel from Miami to Cuba, but has fallen short of hopes by many in Cuba that a Biden presidency would return the island to its “Obama era.”

    Restrictions on tourist travel to Cuba, and imports and exports of many goods, remain in place.

    Also kindling tensions has been the Cuban government’s harsh treatment of participants in the island’s 2021 protests, including hefty prison sentences doled out to minors, a constant point of criticism by the Biden administration.

    Cuban officials have repeatedly expressed optimism about talks with the U.S. and steps to reopen visa services. Cuban Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Carlos Cossio said in November that ensuring migration through safe and legal pathways is a “mutual objective” by both countries.

    But Cossio also blamed the flight of tens of thousands from the island on U.S. sanctions, saying that “there’s no doubt that a policy meant to depress the living standards of a population is a direct driver of migration.”

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  • Cubans search for holiday food amid deepening crisis

    Cubans search for holiday food amid deepening crisis

    HAVANA (AP) — As Belkis Fajardo, 69, walks through the dense streets of downtown Havana with a small bag of lettuce and onions in hand, she wonders how she’ll feed her family over the holidays.

    Scarcity and economic turmoil are nothing new to Cuba, but Fajardo is among many Cubans to note that this year is different thanks to soaring inflation and deepening shortages.

    “We’ll see what we can scrap together to cook for the end of the year,” Fajardo said. “Everything is really expensive … so you buy things little-by-little as you can. And if you can’t, you don’t eat.”

    Basic goods such as chicken, beef, eggs, milk, flour and toilet paper are difficult and often impossible to find in state stores.

    When they do appear, they often come at hefty prices, either from informal shops, resellers or in expensive stores only accessible to those with foreign currency.

    It’s far out of the range of the average Cuban state salary, approximately 5,000 pesos a month, or $29 USD on the island’s more widely used informal exchange rate. Nearby, a pound of pork leg was selling for 450 pesos (around $2.60.)

    “Not everyone can buy things, not everyone has a family who sends remittances (money from abroad),” Fajardo said. “With the money my daughter earns and my pension, we’re trying to buy what we can, but it’s extremely hard.”

    In October, the Cuban government reported that inflation had risen 40% over the past year and had a significant impact on the purchasing power for many on the island.

    While Fajardo managed to buy vegetables, rice and beans, she still has no meat for Christmas or New Years.

    The shortages are among a number of factors stoking a broader discontent on the island, which has given rise to protests in recent years as well as an emerging migratory flight from Cuba. On Friday, U.S. authorities reported stopping Cubans 34,675 times along the Mexico border in November, up 21% from 28,848 times in October.

    The dissatisfaction was made even more evident during Cuba’s local elections last month, when 31.5% of eligible voters didn’t cast a ballot — a far cry from the nearly 100% turnout during Fidel Castro’s lifetime.

    Despite being the highest voting abstention rate the country had seen since the Cuban revolution, the government still hailed it as “a victory.” However in an address to Cuban lawmakers last week, President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged the government’s shortcomings in handling the country’s complex mix of crises, particularly food shortages.

    “I feel an enormous dissatisfaction that I haven’t been able to accomplish, through leadership of the country, the results that the Cuban people need to attain longed-desired and expected prosperity,” he said.

    The admission provoked a standing ovation in the congressional assembly, made up solely of politicians from Díaz-Canel’s communist party.

    But Ricardo Torres, a Cuban and economics fellow at American University in Washington, said he saw the words as “meaningless” without a real plan to address discontent.

    “People want answers from their government,” he said. “Not words — answers.”

    For years, the Caribbean nation has pushed much of the blame for its economic turmoil on the United States’ six-decade trade embargo on Cuba, which has strangled much of the island’s economy. However, many observers, including Torres, stress that the government’s mismanagement of the economy and reluctance to embrace the private sector are also to blame.

    On Friday, a long line of Cubans waited outside an empty state-run butchery, waiting for a coveted item: a leg of pork to feed their families on New Year’s Eve.

    About a dozen people The Associated Press asked for an interview said they were scared to speak, including one who said “it could have consequences for us.”

    Estrella, 67, has shown up to the state butcher every morning for more than two weeks, waiting her turn to buy pork to share with her children, grandchildren and siblings. So far, she’s come up dry.

    Although pork is available to buy from private butchers, it’s often far more expensive than at state-run facilities, which subsidize prices.

    So she waits, hopeful that she’ll be able to cook Cuba’s traditional holiday dish.

    “If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to buy it today,” she said. “If we’re not, we’ll come back tomorrow.”

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  • Cubans search for holiday food amid deepening crisis

    Cubans search for holiday food amid deepening crisis

    HAVANA — As Belkis Fajardo, 69, walks through the dense streets of downtown Havana with a small bag of lettuce and onions in hand, she wonders how she’ll feed her family over the holidays.

    Scarcity and economic turmoil are nothing new to Cuba, but Fajardo is among many Cubans to note that this year is different thanks to soaring inflation and deepening shortages.

    “We’ll see what we can scrap together to cook for the end of the year,” Fajardo said. “Everything is really expensive … so you buy things little-by-little as you can. And if you can’t, you don’t eat.”

    Basic goods such as chicken, beef, eggs, milk, flour and toilet paper are difficult and often impossible to find in state stores.

    When they do appear, they often come at hefty prices, either from informal shops, resellers or in expensive stores only accessible to those with foreign currency.

    It’s far out of the range of the average Cuban state salary, approximately 5,000 pesos a month, or $29 USD on the island’s more widely used informal exchange rate. Nearby, a pound of pork leg was selling for 450 pesos (around $2.60.)

    “Not everyone can buy things, not everyone has a family who sends remittances (money from abroad),” Fajardo said. “With the money my daughter earns and my pension, we’re trying to buy what we can, but it’s extremely hard.”

    In October, the Cuban government reported that inflation had risen 40% over the past year and had a significant impact on the purchasing power for many on the island.

    While Fajardo managed to buy vegetables, rice and beans, she still has no meat for Christmas or New Years.

    The shortages are among a number of factors stoking a broader discontent on the island, which has given rise to protests in recent years as well as an emerging migratory flight from Cuba. On Friday, U.S. authorities reported stopping Cubans 34,675 times along the Mexico border in November, up 21% from 28,848 times in October.

    The dissatisfaction was made even more evident during Cuba’s local elections last month, when 31.5% of eligible voters didn’t cast a ballot — a far cry from the nearly 100% turnout during Fidel Castro’s lifetime.

    Despite being the highest voting abstention rate the country had seen since the Cuban revolution, the government still hailed it as “a victory.” However in an address to Cuban lawmakers last week, President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged the government’s shortcomings in handling the country’s complex mix of crises, particularly food shortages.

    “I feel an enormous dissatisfaction that I haven’t been able to accomplish, through leadership of the country, the results that the Cuban people need to attain longed-desired and expected prosperity,” he said.

    The admission provoked a standing ovation in the congressional assembly, made up solely of politicians from Díaz-Canel’s communist party.

    But Ricardo Torres, a Cuban and economics fellow at American University in Washington, said he saw the words as “meaningless” without a real plan to address discontent.

    “People want answers from their government,” he said. “Not words — answers.”

    For years, the Caribbean nation has pushed much of the blame for its economic turmoil on the United States’ six-decade trade embargo on Cuba, which has strangled much of the island’s economy. However, many observers, including Torres, stress that the government’s mismanagement of the economy and reluctance to embrace the private sector are also to blame.

    On Friday, a long line of Cubans waited outside an empty state-run butchery, waiting for a coveted item: a leg of pork to feed their families on New Year’s Eve.

    About a dozen people The Associated Press asked for an interview said they were scared to speak, including one who said “it could have consequences for us.”

    Estrella, 67, has shown up to the state butcher every morning for more than two weeks, waiting her turn to buy pork to share with her children, grandchildren and siblings. So far, she’s come up dry.

    Although pork is available to buy from private butchers, it’s often far more expensive than at state-run facilities, which subsidize prices.

    So she waits, hopeful that she’ll be able to cook Cuba’s traditional holiday dish.

    “If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to buy it today,” she said. “If we’re not, we’ll come back tomorrow.”

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  • Cubans search for holiday food amid deepening crisis

    Cubans search for holiday food amid deepening crisis

    HAVANA — As Belkis Fajardo, 69, walks through the dense streets of downtown Havana with small bag of lettuce and onions in hand, she wonders how she’ll feed her family over the holidays.

    Scarcity and economic turmoil are nothing new to Cuba, but Fajardo is among many Cubans to note that this year is different thanks to soaring inflation and deepening shortages.

    “We’ll see what we can scrap together to cook for the end of the year,” Fajardo said. “Everything is really expensive … so you buy things little-by-little as you can. And if you can’t, you don’t eat.”

    Basic goods such as chicken, beef, eggs, milk, flour and toilet paper are difficult and often impossible to find in state stores.

    When they do appear, they often come at hefty prices, either from informal shops, resellers or in expensive stores only accessible to those with foreign currency.

    It’s far out of the range of the average Cuban state salary, approximately 5,000 pesos a month, or $29 USD on the island’s more widely used informal exchange rate. Nearby, a pound of pork leg was selling for 450 pesos (around $2.60.)

    “Not everyone can buy things, not everyone has a family who sends remittances (money from abroad),” Fajardo said. “With the money my daughter earns and my pension, we’re trying to buy what we can, but it’s extremely hard.”

    In October, the Cuban government reported that inflation had risen 40% over the past year and had a significant impact on the purchasing power for many on the island.

    While Fajardo managed to buy vegetables, rice and beans, she still has no meat for Christmas or New Years.

    The shortages are among a number of factors stoking a broader discontent on the island, which has given rise to protests in recent years as well as an emerging migratory flight from Cuba.

    The dissatisfaction was made even more evident during Cuba’s local elections last month, when 31.5% of eligible voters didn’t cast a ballot — a far cry from the nearly 100% turnout during Fidel Castro’s lifetime.

    Despite being the highest voting abstention rate the country had seen since the Cuban revolution, the government still hailed it as “a victory.” However in an address to Cuban lawmakers last week, President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged the government’s shortcomings in handling the country’s complex mix of crises, particularly food shortages.

    “I feel an enormous dissatisfaction that I haven’t been able to accomplish, through leadership of the country, the results that the Cuban people need to attain longed-desired and expected prosperity,” he said.

    The admission provoked a standing ovation in the congressional assembly, made up solely of politicians from Díaz-Canel’s communist party.

    But Ricardo Torres, a Cuban and economics fellow at American University in Washington, said he saw the words as “meaningless” without a real plan to address discontent.

    “People want answers from their government,” he said. “Not words — answers.”

    For years, the Caribbean nation has pushed much of the blame for its economic turmoil on the United States’ six-decade trade embargo on Cuba, which has strangled much of the island’s economy. However, many observers, including Torres, stress that the government’s mismanagement of the economy and reluctance to embrace the private sector are also to blame.

    On Friday, a long line of Cubans waited outside an empty state-run butchery, waiting for a coveted item: a leg of pork to feed their families on New Year’s Eve.

    About a dozen people The Associated Press asked for an interview said they were scared to speak, including one who said “it could have consequences for us.”

    Estrella, 67, has shown up to the state butcher every morning for more than two weeks, waiting her turn to buy pork to share with her children, grandchildren and siblings. So far, she’s come up dry.

    Although pork is available to buy from private butchers, it’s often far more expensive than at state-run facilities, which subsidize prices.

    So she waits, hopeful that she’ll be able to cook Cuba’s traditional holiday dish.

    “If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to buy it today,” she said. “If we’re not, we’ll come back tomorrow.”

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  • Democratic lawmakers visit Havana, meet with Cuban president

    Democratic lawmakers visit Havana, meet with Cuban president

    HAVANA — A delegation of at least three U.S. lawmakers visited Havana and met with Cuba’s government this week, American and Cuban officials confirmed.

    Reps. James McGovern (D-MA), Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Troy Carter (D-LA) met with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, leaders in Cuba’s congress and its foreign minister, the U.S. Embassy in Cuba told The Associated Press on Sunday.

    It’s one of just a handful of such visits to the island in recent decades. While officials provided few details about what was discussed, Díaz-Canel and Cuba’s Congress tweeted photos of the meetings.

    One photo shows Rep. McGovern shaking hands with the Cuban leader and another shows the politicians meeting with other Cuban officials.

    “We addressed our differences and topics of shared interest. We affirmed our willingness to improve bilateral relations,” tweeted Díaz-Canel Saturday, also noting he expressed the importance of ending the U.S. government’s six-decade trade embargo on the island.

    The meeting comes following a number of visits in past months by Biden administration officials to discuss migration. The talks mark a gradual easing of tensions, which were relaxed during the Obama administration and tightened under the Trump administration.

    Cuba is facing the greatest exodus from the island in a decade, fueled by compounding economic, energy and political crises.

    In the past year, Cuban arrivals to the U.S.-Mexico border have skyrocketed, and a growing number of boats packed with migrants have been found off of Florida’s coast.

    In October, Cubans replaced Venezuelans as the second most numerous nationality after Mexicans arriving at the border. U.S. authorities stopped Cubans 28,848 times, up 10% from the previous month, the latest data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows.

    It also comes weeks before the U.S. plans to resume visa and consular services on the island, which had been stalled after a series of health incidents involving American diplomats in 2017.

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  • Felipe Valls Sr., founder of iconic restaurant central to Miami’s Cuban community, dies at 89 | CNN

    Felipe Valls Sr., founder of iconic restaurant central to Miami’s Cuban community, dies at 89 | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Cuban businessman Felipe Valls Sr., founder of the iconic Versailles restaurant in Miami, Florida, died Saturday, his granddaughter, Nicole Valls confirmed to CNN. He was 89 years old.

    Nicole Valls did not provide further details on her grandfather’s death, but said the family’s spokespeople are expected to provide more information at a later time.

    After Valls opened his restaurant on Miami’s emblematic Calle Ocho 51 years ago, it became a vital gathering place for exiled Cubans who could congregate over flaky guava pastelitos and other familiar dishes.

    The landmark spot in the city’s Little Havana neighborhood is still a usual point of concentration for activists and members of the Cuban community in South Florida. It also serves as a meeting point for demonstrations on political issues involving the island.

    Miami Mayor Francis Suarez mourned Valls’ loss on Saturday, describing the businessman as “an extraordinary human being who served his family, his beloved Miami, and the freedom of Cuba with supreme devotion.”

    Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a tweet Valls was “the true embodiment of the American dream.”

    “As a leader, philanthropist and brilliant businessman, he shaped (Versailles) into the pulse of our community for over five decades,” the mayor wrote.

    Those sentiments were echoed by Florida State Representative Daniel Perez, who tweeted his condolences for the loss of “an icon in our community.”

    Media outlets, including CNN, have visited Versailles over the years to gauge the opinions of the Cuban community on various issues and significant events such as Fidel Castro’s death in 2016, when crowds filled the streets around the cafe, banding pots and pans and popping champagne, according to CNN affiliate WSVN.

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  • Cuban, US officials meet in Havana on consular services

    Cuban, US officials meet in Havana on consular services

    HAVANA — Cuban and State Department officials met in Havana on Wednesday to discuss the expansion of consular and visa services on the island.

    The meeting is the latest in a series of friendly exchanges between the two governments, which share a historically icy relationship.

    Cuba issued a brief statement confirming the meeting took place.

    The U.S. delegation included Rena Bitter, assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, and Ur Mendoza Jaddou, director of U.S. citizenship and immigration Services.

    The U.S. Embassy closed in 2017 following a series of health incidents. While a full reopening has yet to be announced, U.S. officials have said visa processing would resume in January.

    The move comes amid the biggest flight of Cubans from the island in decades. Nearly 221,000 Cubans were encountered by migration enforcement on the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2022. That was a 471% increase from the year before, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

    A State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that Washington’s delegation also discussed concerns about human rights in Cuba. The official said Bitter “urged the Cuban government to unconditionally release all political prisoners.”

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  • Cuba says at least 5 dead after boat heading to US crashes

    Cuba says at least 5 dead after boat heading to US crashes

    HAVANA — A boat off northern Cuba traveling toward the United States sank Saturday after a collision with a Cuban coast guard ship, and at least five people died, Cuban officials said Saturday.

    The craft reportedly flipped over after the crash near Bahía Honda, about two hours from the capital of Havana.

    Among the five known dead were a minor and three women, while about two dozen people were rescued, the state media outlet Cubadebate said.

    Further details were not released, with Cuban officials telling the state channel that an investigation was underway.

    The incident comes amid the biggest migratory flight from the Caribbean island in four decades, spurred by a deepening economic, political and energy crisis.

    Cuba’s Interior Ministry threw blame on the U.S., saying the deaths were a “another consequence” of American policy toward Cuba, including the 60-year embargo.

    Meanwhile, the U.S. sent condolences to the families of those deceased.

    “As we expand safe and legal pathways for migration, we warn against attempting dangerous and sometimes fatal irregular migration,” said a tweet from the U.S. Embassy in Havana, which has yet to resume full operations on the island.

    The vast majority of Cubans who are leaving go by plane to Nicaragua, then travel overland to the U.S. border, often in Texas and Arizona.

    But a growing number have fled by boat on the dangerous 90-mile journey to the southern coast of the United States. Between October 2021 and August 2022, the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted more than 4,600 Cubans traveling by boat, almost six times more than in all of 2020.

    It is the largest exodus since 1980, when around 125,000 Cubans traveled by sea to the U.S. over six months, known as the Mariel crisis.

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  • Hurricane Ian nears Cuba on path to strike Florida as Cat 4

    Hurricane Ian nears Cuba on path to strike Florida as Cat 4

    HAVANA (AP) — Hurricane Ian was growing stronger as it barreled toward Cuba on a track to hit Florida’s west coast as a major hurricane as early as Wednesday.

    Ian was forecast to hit the western tip of Cuba as a major hurricane and then become an even stronger Category 4 with top winds of 140 mph (225 km/h) over warm Gulf of Mexico waters before striking Florida.

    As of Monday, Tampa and St. Petersburg appeared to be the among the most likely targets for their first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921.

    “Please treat this storm seriously. It’s the real deal. This is not a drill,” Hillsborough County Emergency Management Director Timothy Dudley said at a news conference on storm preparations in Tampa.

    Authorities in Cuba were evacuating 50,000 people in Pinar del Rio province, sent in medical and emergency personnel, and took steps to protect food and other crops in warehouses, according to state media.

    “Cuba is expecting extreme hurricane-force winds, also life-threatening storm surge and heavy rainfall,” U.S. National Hurricane Center senior specialist Daniel Brown told The Associated Press.

    The hurricane center predicted areas of Cuba’s western coast could see as much as 14 feet (4.3 meters) of storm surge Monday night or early Tuesday.

    In Havana, fishermen were taking their boats out of the water along the famous Malecon, the seaside boardwalk, and city workers were unclogging storm drains ahead of the expected rain.

    Havana resident Adyz Ladron, 35, said the potential for rising water from the storm worries him.

    “I am very scared because my house gets completely flooded, with water up to here,” he said, pointing to his chest.

    In Havana’s El Fanguito, a poor neighborhood near the Almendares River, residents were packing up what they could to leave their homes, many of which show damage from previous storms.

    “I hope we escape this one because it would be the end of us. We already have so little,” health worker Abel Rodrigues, 54, said.

    On Monday night, Ian was moving northwest at 13 mph (20 km/h), about 105 miles (169 kilometers) southeast of the western tip of Cuba, with top sustained winds increasing to 105 mph (169 km/h).

    The center of the hurricane passed to the west of the Cayman Islands, but no major damage was reported there Monday, and residents were going back into the streets as the winds died down.

    “We seem to have dodged the bullet” Grand Cayman resident Gary Hollins said. “I am a happy camper.”

    Ian won’t linger over Cuba but will slow down over the Gulf of Mexico, growing wider and stronger, “which will have the potential to produce significant wind and storm surge impacts along the west coast of Florida,” the hurricane center said.

    A surge of up to 10 feet (3 meters) of ocean water and 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain was predicted across the Tampa Bay area, with as much as 15 inches (38 centimeters) inches in isolated areas. That’s enough water to inundate coastal communities.

    As many as 300,000 people may be evacuated from low-lying areas in Hillsborough County alone, county administrator Bonnie Wise said. Some of those evacuations were beginning Monday afternoon in the most vulnerable areas, with schools and other locations opening as shelters.

    “We must do everything we can to protect our residents. Time is of the essence,” Wise said.

    Floridians lined up for hours in Tampa to collect bags of sand and cleared store shelves of bottled water. Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a statewide emergency and warned that Ian could lash large areas of the state, knocking out power and interrupting fuel supplies as it swirls northward off the state’s Gulf Coast.

    “You have a significant storm that may end up being a Category 4 hurricane,” DeSantis said at a news conference. “That’s going to cause a huge amount of storm surge. You’re going to have flood events. You’re going to have a lot of different impacts.”

    DeSantis said the state has suspended tolls around the Tampa Bay area and mobilized 5,000 Florida state national guard troops, with another 2,000 on standby in neighboring states.

    President Joe Biden also declared an emergency, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief and provide assistance to protect lives and property. The president postponed a scheduled Tuesday trip to Florida because of the storm.

    Playing it safe, NASA planned to slowly roll its moon rocket from the launch pad to its Kennedy Space Center hangar, adding weeks of delay to the test flight.

    The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced Monday night that the football team was relocating football operations to the Miami area in preparation for next weekend’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Buccaneers said the team will leave Tampa on Tuesday.

    Flash flooding was predicted for much of the Florida peninsula, and heavy rainfall was possible for the southeast United States later this week. With tropical storm force winds extending 115 miles (185 kilometers) from Ian’s center, watches covered the Florida Keys to Lake Okeechobee.

    Bob Gualtieri, sheriff of Pinellas County, Florida, which includes St. Petersburg, said in a briefing that although no one will be forced to leave, mandatory evacuation orders are expected to begin Tuesday.

    “What it means is, we’re not going to come help you. If you don’t do it, you’re on your own,” Gualtieri said.

    Zones to be evacuated include all along Tampa Bay and the rivers that feed it. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch urged residents not to ignore any evacuation orders.

    “This is a very real threat that this storm poses to our community,” Welch said.

    The hurricane center has advised Floridians to have survival plans in place and monitor updates of the storm’s evolving path.

    ___

    Associated Press contributors include Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Florida; Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee, Florida; and Julie Walker in New York.

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