The President Miguel Díaz-Canel He assured that “solutions” will be sought to the damage caused by the heavy rains suffered days ago by the eastern region of Cuba, associated with a tropical depression then converted into the imelda storm.
The president made this statement during a visit to Ullao Nuev According to review the Cuban News Agency (ACN).
That community, where almost 600 millimeters of rain fell and as far as the channel of a nearby river arrived, was one of the places visited by Díaz-Canel next to Prime Minister Manuel Marrero and other authorities, on the government journey through Guantanamo and Santiago de Cuba.
However, fulfilling that promise will not be simple, given the deep economic crisis that the island is going through and the magnitude of the damages, which are added – for others – to the debts still accumulated of other natural events and the complex situation of the infrastructure in the country.
Landslides, closure of teaching activities and reservoirs favored by heavy rains in east of Cuba
Affection in Guantanamo and Santiago
As reported by the authorities of Guantanamo, the greatest effects in that province were concentrated in the municipalities of Imías, San Antonio del Sur, Manuel Tames, Niceto Pérez and the provincial header, refers The newspaper Granma.
Among the reported damages are twenty affected housing – among them three with total landslides and eight with partial landslides – as well as effects on the railroad of Guantanamo to Boquerón, in the hydraulic, electrical, roads and schools infrastructure.
In agriculture, about 371 hectares were damaged, mainly of food and vegetables, while the rains accelerated the maturation of coffee, which has led to mobilize students and other forces to support grain collection.
Something similar happens in Santiago de Cuba, where damage to that cultivation “could be high”, although they are intended to collect more than 120 thousand cans from the Maduro Cerez, according to the official report.
In the Santiago territory, two deaths occurred and the most affected municipalities are the city of Cabecera and Guama, where the greatest damage from the rains and consistent floods were concentrated. More than 600 effects on the housing fund and many others in the electrical infrastructure, speak of the complex of the current scenario in that province.
The dead of the dead in Cuba amounts to two for the rains of the tropical storm Imelda
In addition, important losses of family goods are reported, “large damage” in vials – with the road between Santiago and Pilón as the most affected -, and also affectations in education and health centers, including several hospitals, where leaks occurred, the rooms had to be evacuated and teams were wet.
The positive note was the recovery of the reservoirs in the middle of a critical drought scenario. In Guantanamo the increase reached 36 % at the provincial level, and in Santiago at 70.2 %. However, the dams that supply the Santiago capital only reached 30 % filling.
In addition, the authorities alerted about the need to treat water due to the epidemiological situation and the turbidity resulting from the rains. In this regard, the company Aguas Santiago acknowledged that it has capacity limitations for the treatment of that liquid, so that the improvement of its quality will be “gradual”, according to The newspaper Sierra Maestra.
