“A Storm of Intense Rains and Strong Winds Hits Havana and Western Cuba”

Havana, Apr 30 (EFE).- A storm of intense rains, strong winds and electric shocks affected Havana and other areas of western Cuba this Sunday, which has caused material damage in the capital and cuts in the electricity supply .

In addition, the forecast that the storm will last until at least this Monday has led the authorities to postpone the events for International Workers’ Day for May 5.

The downpours mainly hit the Cuban capital, where they left flooded streets and a partial collapse in Old Havana with no personal injuries, according to what EFE was able to verify in a tour of some areas.

In a residential building in the historic center of Havana – located on the streets of Empedrado between Aguacate and Compostela – there was a partial collapse of several balconies and the rubble blocked access to the exit stairway to the street.

The storm is associated with the arrival of a cold front in the western region of the island, as a report from the Institute of Meteorology (Insmet) had previously warned.

Some main streets of the capital were flooded for an hour and the power supply was unstable throughout the day.

The events for International Workers’ Day in Cuba have been postponed until May 5 due to “the instability of the weather that has caused heavy rains in various territories and the forecast for the next few hours,” announced the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba. (CTC, single legal union), organizer of the events.

“In the territories where the meteorological conditions allow it, the planned cultural and recreational activities will be carried out. As established in our legislation, this Monday the work recess will be maintained,” he said in a statement.

Cuba had suspended the traditional May Day parade in the Plaza de la Revolución in Havana, due to the fuel crisis that has been affecting the country for several weeks.

Instead, it had planned for this Monday a central act in the Malecón area of ​​Havana and in parallel it had scheduled commemorative activities in “communities, work and student centers for several days and parades in the country’s municipalities.”

According to a report published on the Insmet website, now the weather conditions have deteriorated in the provinces of Mayabeque and Matanzas, also belonging to the western region.

Its forecast for the next few hours indicates that the activity of showers and rains will begin to gradually decrease from the early hours of the afternoon in the province of Pinar del Río, the westernmost in the country, while the rest of the archipelago will be partly cloudy and rains are expected in the central region.

It also forecasts winds from the south and southeast, with speeds between 20 and 35 kilometers per hour, and waves on both western coasts that could cause accumulations of water in low-lying areas, including the Havana boardwalk, an area prone to flooding when these weather situations.