Cuba faces deadly weather. One person died and several thousand residents were evacuated due to torrential rains that have been falling for several days in the center and east of the country, authorities said on Saturday.
“The damage is considerable in terms of homes, roads and in the agricultural sector. The work to protect and evacuate families continues,” President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on his Twitter account. He called on the population to “remain extremely cautious” because “the rains have not stopped and the danger” is still present.
The Air Force as reinforcements
Authorities announced on Friday the death by drowning of a 60-year-old man in the eastern province of Granma, where more than 7,200 residents were evacuated.
The Cuban Air Force rescued residents of the town of Yara, located in the province of Granma, trapped by rising waters. Images released by Cuban media show vast flooded areas and waist-deep water in towns in the eastern provinces of Holguín, Camagüey, Santiago de Cuba and Las Tunas, as well as in Sancti Spíritus, in the center of the island.
Bridges, roads and the drainage system suffered heavy damage and rail traffic between Havana and the east of the country was suspended. In Camagüey, capital of the province of the same name, two rivers overflowed, causing flooding in part of the city.
According to the Cuban Meteorological Institute, this situation is linked to the presence of a depression in the Gulf of Mexico. “During the next 24 hours, these conditions of atmospheric instability will continue throughout the national territory (…) and precipitation and thunderstorms will persist in a large part of the country”, in particular in the center and the east, the institute said.