Havana/During the afternoon and night of this Saturday both the official press and the residents in Santiago de Cuba published images and videos in which flooded houses and towns are seen. In some areas the neighbors had to take refuge in the roofs because the water exceeded the meter high.
A tropical depression that is almost stationary north of Holguín has brought intense rains to all Eastern provinces and Camagüey. Granma and Santiago seem to be the most affected at the moment. According to the Institute of Meteorology of the Island (INSMET), on the morning of this Sunday there will be showers in this region, which will intensify in the afternoon, “they will become strong in some locations and will run until hours of the night.”
According to him Last report From the Insmet, the tropical depression nine “during the past hours has remained with little change. At night and early this Sunday they concentrated strong storm areas in localities of the Cuban East, mainly on the provinces of Guantanam significant ”.
Depression threatens to become a cyclone. “For the next few hours this system will remain with similar trajectory by increasing its translation speed [actualmente de 11 kilómetros por hora]as he continues to win in organization and intensity, becoming during the next 12 to 24 hours into a tropical storm, ”said the institute, added that the rains can become very intense in the East, especially in the mountainous areas.
Depression threatens to become a cyclone. “For the next few hours this system will remain with similar trajectory by increasing its translation speed”
In social networks, residents in Santiago have reported floods in the headquarters municipality. “Hundreds of completely flooded streets keep inhabitants on alert. The morning has given way to day and many families continue to take water inside their homes,” wrote On Facebook the official journalist Cuscó Tarradell.
He also reported “more than 80 faults reports in primary and secondary circuits of the Santiago de Cuba municipality, according to confirmations of guard operators in the provincial electric office”, which have caused blackouts in several areas of the city. “In the municipality of Guama, the towns of Aserradero and Uvero are among the most affected by electrical contingencies and floods,” Tarradell added.
In Baconao, where the river follows, five people were trapped on the ceilings of the Fantasy Park facilities. According to Cubadebatetwo were rescued by personnel from the Cuban Red Cross in Santiago and the rest was assisted by local lifeguards.
“It should be noted that to reach that town you have to pass several dangerous steps of rivers and all are overwhelmed by their floods,” Arias Arias Battle, provincial head of operations and relief, aquatic security, in Santiago de Cuba, told the environment.
According to the rescuer, it was also incommunicado for the overflow of the the town of Los Mamoncillos, in Playa Verraco. “Housing destroyed by the passage of it, thus reported followers via Messenger, families protected in masonry homes and with plate covers,” he wrote in his profile.
In Granma, where the situation was more critical on Saturday, the consequences of the storm are still experienced. “The Hatibonico settlement, of the Municipality of Caimanera In the last 24 hours he records the largest accumulated rainfall ”, reported The Radio Bahía station.
