The intensity of the rainfall caused landslides, the overflow of rivers, fallen trees and damage to the electricity service service
More than 18,000 people displaced, floods, landslides, full rivers and isolated areas is the preliminary balance of heavy rains that persist in the east of Cuba after the passage of the immelda tropical depression.
The provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo and Granma are the most affected.
The most recent predictions of the Institute of Meteorology (Insmet) warn that, within the next 24 hours, the precipitation associated with the now IMELDA storm, which is moving from Cuba, due to its wide circulation and a flow of high moisture values from the Caribbean Sea.
The intensity of the rainfall caused landslides, the overflow of rivers, fallen trees and damage to the electricity supply service.
Local authorities suspended classes at all levels of education in Santiago and Guantanamo and insisted on the warnings of prudence and respect for preventive measures recommended by the Civil Defense.
In Guantánamo, 18 thousand people were removed from their homes, displaced mainly to homes of family and friends.
The town of Paraguay is isolated, without communications, due to the flow of rains from mountainous areas, according to a state television report.
In the locality of Hatibonico, in the same province, more than 500 millimeters (mm) of rain have fallen in the last 48 hours. Other reports report accumulations above 300 mm in zones of Santiago, where several communities are isolated.
Experts from the Santiago de Cuba Hydraulic Utilization Company reported that the bulky rainfall caused an increase of 8.2 million cubic meters in the total volume of water stored in the 16 reservoirs of the province, affected by severe drought.
Cuban meteorologists warned a “very active” season of cyclones in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, with the possible formation of eight hurricanes between June and November.
In the 2024 cyclone season, two typhoons strongly hit the island, one of them – Oscar – hit Earth as a category 1 hurricane in Guantanamo province, with winds of up to 130 km/h.
Then, despite losing intensity and becoming a tropical storm, leaving eight dead, damage to 12,000 housing, flooding that isolated communities, losses in agriculture and other damage.
The other typhoon was Rafael, category 3, which punished the Cuban West, especially the province of Artemisa, with sustained winds of 185 km/h, although it also affected neighboring Havana and Mayabeque, causing the total collapse of the national electric system, which affected 10 million people.
