Three people have died in Cuba as a result of heavy rainfall in the east and center of the country. Thousands of residents have also been evacuated, local authorities report.
The rainfall, which started on Thursday, has eased somewhat in the last 24 hours, but rescue operations continue for now. Provinces in the east of the island and the province of Sancti Spiritus in the center have been particularly hard hit.
The civil defense of Camaguey, one of the largest Cuban cities, said in a statement Monday that a 56-year-old man was found dead at a dam and that a 67-year-old man’s death is under investigation. Granma province authorities previously reported that a 60-year-old man had drowned.
In the same province, nearly 7,500 people were evacuated from their homes, while in Las Tunas province, some 700 hectares of crops were destroyed. Bridges, roads and sewage systems were also severely damaged by the heavy rainfall, which also disrupted train traffic to and from the capital Havana.
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