A resident of Pinar del Río fell into a swollen stream in the Diez de Octubre neighborhood and is reported missing by local authorities after the heavy rains that mainly affect the west and center of the country.
According to residents of the place to official mediathe man “did not manage to get out of the water” and is sought by agents of the Ministry of the Interior and local residents.
Several residential areas, both in Pinar del Río, as well as in Havana, Sancti Spíritus and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, have been flooded with water due to the rains associated with a large area that covers the northwest of the Caribbean Sea and the west from Cuba.
The climatic phenomenon is linked to the low pressure zone that moves slowly over the southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and has caused the evacuation of families in several territories, fallen trees, landslides and overflowing of rivers. Interruptions in the electrical service are also reported in Pinar del Río, large areas of Artemisa, Havana and other provinces.
In the Cuban capital, neighborhoods and areas near the Plaza de Cuatro Caminos have been affected, an area that normally reports flooding problems and in which residents, in recent hours, have lived with water above their knees.
The corner of Infanta and Amenidad is seriously affected by the rains and the water even covers part of the vehicles parked nearby. The same scenario is experienced in the lower areas of Centro Habana, especially in the Los Sitios neighborhood, very close to the El Pontón Sports Center.
According to the latest report from the Cuban Institute of Meteorology, the territories with the highest rainfall record are the Embalse Cuyaguateje meteorological station in Pinar del Río with 176.0 millimeters, followed by the INRH Municipal Delegation of Isla de la Juventud with 160.0 and the Telecorreo station. Jarahueca located in Sancti Spíritus with 156.5.
A month ago, the Institute of Meteorology recalled that June is considered the rainiest month of the year in Cuba. “A considerable part of the accumulated precipitation occurs associated with rainy events lasting several days, which occur mainly in the first two decades of the month.”
Then he advanced that “rainfalls depend on the influence of migratory systems in the tropical zone, such as tropical waves and lows, and their important interaction with mid-latitude systems”, while recalling that this month begins ” the period of great activity of thunderstorms”.
This Wednesday, June 1, began the new season of tropical cyclones in the Atlantic that will close on November 30, and in which the formation of up to 17 cyclones is expected, of which nine could reach the category of hurricane.
With this perspective, the Forecast Center of the Institute of Meteorology has advanced that with an 85% probability, one of those hurricanes could affect Cuba in the coming season.
? Havana under heavy rain this Friday https://t.co/tQiKYHN4yO pic.twitter.com/fWyAtspSFP
— 14ymedio (@14ymedio) June 3, 2022
The official institution called for paying attention to the persistence of rainfall, due to the saturation of the soil, mainly in low-lying areas with poor drainage.
The new cyclonic season arrives favored by the presence of warmer than normal sea temperatures in the tropical strip of the North Atlantic and the Caribbean during the first months of this year, according to observations by Cuban meteorologists.
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