Record high temperatures in Cuba have led to intense rainfalls this week amounting to floods, power cuts, and three reported deaths in the capital. While other Cuban provinces have also been hit, Havana has been struck most severely by the torrential rains where 1,400 homes are reported flooded, 27 buildings collapsed, and 10,089 people directly affected and in need of assistance, according to the country's Civil Defense Directory. Problems with public transport, traffic, electric circuits, and water tanks have also been reported. The torrential rains have taken the lives of three people: Marta Damiana Acanda Ledesma, 81; Julio Eugenio Andino Arzola, 24; and another person yet to be identified. The Cuban Meteorology Institute reports that the torrential rains are caused by a “stream of severe thunderstorms that quickly formed in the Straits of Florida ahead of a cold front,” according to the Cuban news agency 14ymedio. The rains followed some of the highest temperatures the country has experienced, reaching 39 degrees Celsius on its peak day. Source URL |
