The National Civil Defense General Staff took several days to react to the heavy rains that have caused flooding in the east and center of the island. The drowning death of a 60-year-old man in Jiguaní (Granma), the precarious evacuation of Thousands of people affected and the loss of buildings and resources did not make the front pages of the official press either until this Saturday, after Miguel Díaz-Canel fired Colombian President Gustavo Petro in Havana and dedicated a tweet to the serious situation climatological
According to official figures, 7,259 people have been evacuated so far, while 10,000 houses have been affected, of which 65 have suffered total collapses and 214 partial ones. However, the first note of the Civil Defense limited itself to informing that the rains “will persist” in the next hours, and appealed to the report of the Institute of Meteorology on the precipitations.
In addition, the National General Staff notified that the soils were saturated and that “risk levels will increase”, so “do not commit imprudence” and obey the authorities were the instructions to follow.
cubadebate It opened this Saturday with the horrifying images of the Camagüey stadium, almost completely submerged in the waters, and with Díaz-Canel’s affirmation that he had communicated with the local leaders, to study the situation. “The damage is considerable in housing, roads, agriculture,” he summarized.
The network of rain gauges of the Institute of Meteorology and Hydraulic Resources reported accumulations of more than 200 millimeters (mm) in 14 of the gauges, while 53 register values greater than 100 mm.
The senior official appointed by the Government to monitor the progress of the floods from Granma is Vice Prime Minister Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca, who chairs a “working commission” to mitigate the impact of the rains. His strategy has been “constant monitoring of the state of the reservoirs” and, to a lesser extent, the evacuation of those affected.
However, the area most affected so far, according to the official press, is agriculture. 700 hectares destroyed by rain in Las Tunas is one of the most significant figures
Nine peccaries –a species of mammal similar to the pig– and an antelope from the Camagüey zoo died during the floods, due to drowning and hypothermia, respectively. Given the concerns of the population, the director of the institution, Eddy Jorge Garay, assured that there had been no escape of crocodiles, lions or any other dangerous animal.
However, the most affected area so far, according to the official press, is agriculture. 700 hectares destroyed by rain in Las Tunas is one of the most significant figures. Eight municipalities in Las Tunas have also been hard hit by the rains. The Civil Defense protected, in the province, 5,000 head of cattle and keeps other animals under surveillance, they reported.
The damage caused by the flooding of the Jobabo, Tana and Sevilla rivers is notable, they highlighted, although they qualified the seriousness of the panorama by stating – as the national press has been doing for days – that the dams in the region were filled.
As a consequence of the floods, the Union of Railways of Cuba advertisement the suspension of the Havana-Bayamo-Manzanillo train, which was supposed to leave this Saturday and return on Monday. In addition, the National Bus company also canceled the services scheduled for this weekend. In both cases, the agencies announced, they will reimburse the tickets to those who booked them.
This Friday, the Institute of Meteorology published a special notice – the third since the rains began – anticipating that there would be affectations in the central zone as well as the eastern one. In addition, he warned that the situation in Camagüey would reach significant levels of rainfall, as well as “isolated localities” in Matanzas, Cienfuegos and Sancti Spíritus.
“This hydrometeorological situation continues to be related to the persistence of a trough in the middle and upper levels of the troposphere over the Gulf of Mexico, which maintains a humid flow from the southwest over the entire country, in combination with atmospheric instability and local factors” , indicated.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio He is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for accompanying us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time making you a member of our newspaper. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
