The U.S. Coast Guard reports a 65 percent increase this year in the number of Cubans trying to reach the United States.

OAK ISLAND -- A makeshift raft was discovered over the weekend washed up on the west beach of Oak Island. The crude assemblage of wood, plastic foam, chain link fence and rusted metal appears to be a Cuban refugee raft. The small craft contains a homemade rudder, oars made from tree limbs and a hole for a missing mast. Large flour bags filled with empty water bottles served as flotation. The whole arrangement is tied together with rope.

The raft was discovered by Oak Island residents on Sunday morning following the storm surge caused by Hurricane Matthew.

“It’s not every day that you see something like that washed up on the beach,” said Oak Island resident Jaret Sears. “My first thought was ‘What happened to the people who were on it?’”

The bags of flour on the raft are clearly marked “Product of Cuba.”

Cuban refugees desperate to reach the United States often employ piecemeal rafts as a means of travel. It’s not uncommon for many Cubans to cram aboard a single raft.

The U.S. Coast Guard reports a 65 percent increase this year in the number of Cubans trying to reach the United States.

According to the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act, any Cuban refugee who reaches the United States is granted asylum and becomes eligible for permanent residence after one year. The 1966 law grants Cubans special status compared with immigrants from elsewhere. As President Barack Obama seeks to normalize relations with Cuba, desperate Cubans fear that this special status will be revoked, which could explain the rise in numbers of refugees attempting to reach U.S. shores.

The raft that washed up on Oak Island most likely drifted from somewhere within the 90 mile stretch between Cuba and Florida.

When the Coast Guard rescues Cubans at sea, protocol dictates either sinking the makeshift vessel or marking it “USCG OK,” with orange spray paint. The raft discovered at Oak Island displayed no such marking.

“This could initiate a search and rescue case if we can’t tie [the raft] to a previous interdiction and there could be people in the water,” said Petty Officer Third Class Eric Woodall of the 7th Coast Guard District in Florida. Woodall could not confirm whether the raft was of Cuban origin.

In a news release issued before Hurricane Matthew, Capt. Mark Gordon, chief of enforcement, 7th Coast Guard District said, “The dangerous waters of the Florida Straits can be unforgiving for the unprepared on ill-advised and illegal voyages. It can be even more dangerous especially during this time of year with tropical storms and hurricanes forming in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Migrants who choose to board unseaworthy vessels put their lives at severe risk with very little chance of success.”

The raft found at Oak Island was one of two recovered over the weekend. Another raft was found in Avon on the Outer Banks. The Oak Island raft was retrieved from the beach and is being held by the town’s public works department.

Rafts found along the East Coast are not that uncommon, Coast Guard officials said.

There was no indication that people had recently been on board the Oak Island raft, said Capt. Patty Hill, commander of the Coast Guard’s North Carolina sector. Whether the raft had orange paint markings left by intercepting Coast Guard vessels, Hill said, “I haven’t seen that close enough to tell you that for sure. It’s very much been weathered.”

Oak Island Mayor Cin Brochure went to see the raft on Sunday and said she found it very moving.

“I was thinking about the people who built it and how desperate they must have been to risk their lives on something so rudimentary," she said. "It makes you realize how fortunate we are to live in the United States.”

FindTheData | Graphiq

Reporter Cammie Bellamy contributed to this report. Contact the Metro desk at 910-343-2099 or BreakingNews@StarNewsOnline.com.