The intense rains that mainly affected from Camagüey to Santiago de Cuba in recent days add up to six deaths, according to reports this Monday at a meeting led by the Cuban president to discuss the issue of recovery.
The deceased are concentrated in the provinces of Granma (2), Camagüey (2), Las Tunas (1) and Santiago de Cuba (1), according to collect this Tuesday the official newspaper Granma.
We continue the recovery stage in the face of the effects caused by the intense rains in the east. #FuerzaCuba https://t.co/h0eXsq7ff1 via @PresidenciaCuba
— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) June 13, 2023
“There were places where the situation was very complicated, above all because many of these floods (…) occurred in the early hours of the morning, and enormous evacuation efforts had to be made with boats, with helicopters. Work was done in a very timely manner to avoid more deaths than we have had,” Díaz-Canel said.
Granma is the most affected province, according to the report of this meeting. A preliminary quantification of 9,045 people affected by the storm and 145 affectations in homes were quantified, to which damages in 118 temporary facilities and 71 minor damages are added.
The heavy rains increased the level of deterioration of land roads, affecting 89 kilometers (km) of roads of national interest and 71 km of roads and paths belonging to other patronages. In agriculture, preliminarily 4,795 hectares of various crops were damaged.
Camagüey reported 550 affectations in the house, between total and partial collapses; Las Tunas reported 76 damages, between partial and total; Holguín, 224, to date, and Santiago de Cuba notified 152 damages of this type.
“This has been an unusual event; Although in our country we are used to working in conditions of intense rain, this has to do directly with climate change, the Cuban president explained.
June “very rainy”
The storm is due to a trough (the rise of warm and humid air masses to the upper atmosphere) over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, which generates instability from the Caribbean Sea and Central America to the eastern half of the island.
The systematic monitoring of the country’s hydrometeorological situation, after knowing the meteorological forecasts, the specialists of the @INRHCuba They report hydrological estimates, reservoir filling and other data. In the situational room, efficient communication. #FuerzaCuba pic.twitter.com/QhRDQXQwUV
— Inés María Chapman Waugh (@InesMChapman) June 10, 2023
A specialist from the Institute of Meteorology (Insmet) told state television on Monday that unstable weather conditions are expected to persist in the country, although the trough has weakened.
June is expected to be “very rainy”, indicated the director of Basic Systems of the Insmet, Yinelys Bermúdez.
After a severe drought in recent months, the affected area went on to receive exceptional rainfall records in a few hours that have exceeded those accumulated for a month of June in the last 30 years, explained the deputy director of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources, Osvaldo Martínez. .
The Cuban reservoirs managed to retain 1,890 million cubic meters of water, something favorable, according to the evaluation of the specialist who pointed out that in 11 days of June 92% of the accumulated national volume of rain was reached and the historical average for the year has been exceeded. period, by appointment Eph.
Heavy rains, multiple impacts and notice of environmental damage
The large-scale rains of these days have increased the levels of the country’s reservoirs that now store 5,970 million cubic meters of water, and according to their precisions at the end of June it will continue to increase.
The island’s authorities have activated brigades to recover damages in the territories affected by this contingency, which has also left several thousand homeless.
Efe/OnCuba.
