Three dead and thousands without electricity in Cuba after hurricane
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Downpour following Hurricane Agatha floods Havana and results in several deaths, evacuations, and loss of evacuation.
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Three dead and thousands without electricity in Cuba after hurricane (AP)
Remnants of a downpour of Hurricane Agatha flooded Western Cuba on Friday. At least three people died in Havana as a result of those heavy rains.
Moreover, thousands have lost power and two men are thought to have gone missing in Pinar del Rio. One was later found dead, according to Cuban officials and the local news site CubaDebate.
According to the Cuban Weather Office (INSMET), "Strong, heavy rain and electrical storms have been affecting the western and central regions of Cuba with accumulations greater than 200 millimeters (eight inches), which will continue for the rest of today and tomorrow, Saturday."
While Agatha initially crashed into southern Mexico, it had the potential to redevelop as a tropical storm in the Atlantic said the Miami-based US National Hurricane Center. According to INSMET, heavy rains resulted in floods in localities of the western extreme (Pinar del Rio) all the way to the center (Sancti Spiritus) as well as southern Havana (Isla de la Juventud Special Municipality).
As the city got flooded, rescuers were shown by state media to have evacuated people in canoes. The capital is faced with a difficult circumstance with approximately 2,000 people having decided to evacuate their homes, and 50,000 citizens remaining without electricity in the province of Havana. This tragedy happened as the Atlantic hurricane season begins each year on June 1 and ends on November 30, for the North Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean.
