The news is unfortunate in Havana: 49 buildings collapsed, including eight in total, 400 households were evacuated and two fatalities were reported by the authorities. That is the visible balance of rainfall that has taken by assault the streets of Havana in the last two days.
The fact was predictable, except for some much selected sites of the city, the rest of the city has construction problems, especially in neighborhoods in Centro Habana and Old Havana. It is no coincidence then that the two deaths were currently located on this territory.
According to reports by Granma newspaper, Fidel Recios Vega, 54 years old, and Pastora Góngora Mendoza, 60, died last Friday when their houses collapsed in the building located in Campanario 619 between Salud and Reina Streets, located in Centro Habana.
In this capital municipality there were reported 289 millimeters of rainfall in just 48 hours, that, besides the collapsing, caused the temporary closure of some routes by flooding that hampered the movement of vehicles.
Images taken on the streets of Havana during this weekend speak for themselves: cars stranded, the water level well above the sidewalks and ruined buildings are just the alert.
According to reports Prensa Latina news agency, the Cuban Civil Defense currently is working in 25 areas considered of high risk in Havana and cleaning the collapsed buildings, in order to expedite the cleaning of accumulated debris.
Unfortunately, as might be expected, the ravages of the rains will not cease upon completion of these. By contrast, the worst news is yet to come when the sun finally comes out, because then the structures weakened by constant humidity tend to collapse.
After 48 hours in which the rains have barely stopped, the latest advisories by the Meteorology Institute announced a progressive decrease in rainfall in the west of the country, although in the city right now , is still raining with no apparent intention of letting up .
