The storm did not stop the Havana residents who, driven by necessity, went out in search of food and medicine.
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 18 October 2024 — It has been raining almost continuously in Havana for three days. Several neighborhoods have seen flooding and, with the failure of the country’s entire electric grid on Friday, the situation is becoming increasingly uncertain. Officials have issued several orders in the last twenty-four hours to clean up the city and prevent water from accumulating. Havana residents have taken to the streets out of necessity to buy food and medicine without paying much attention to the storm.
According to the latest report from the Meteorological Institute, the island was hit with a stationary cold front from the west on Wednesday. This, along with the formation of a tropical wave south of Cuba that could become a cyclone in the next forty-eight hours, means the island is looking at a high probability of storms and showers. So far, rain gauges indicate the heaviest rainfall has been in Caibarién (in Villa Clara province), with 6.5 inches; Bainoa (in Mayabeque province), with 5.3 inches; and Bahía Honda, (in Artemisa province), with 3.7 inches.
Havana is not on the list of cities with the heaviest rainfall but there have been ongoing reports of strong storms in the capital for the last three days, weakening walls and columns. A social media post on Friday contained images of the collapse of a colonial-era house on the corner of Muralla and Aguilar streets in Old Havana. Photos show a tree close to the building that had fallen due to strong wind and rains, destroying part of the exterior.
Another report from “Escambray,” the official state media outlet of Sancti Spíritus province, contained photos taken by local residents on Thursday in numerous areas of the provincial capital, including the Bay Tunnel, where authorities can be seen walking through ankle-deep water.
Measures announced on the same day by Havana’s local government, however, were of little use. People and vehicles continue to ply the flooded streets while storm drains, which were scheduled to be cleaned, were mostly clogged with trash that the rain washed away from the many piles of garbage to be found throughout the city.
During a tour through Havana’s Tenth of October district on Thursday, 14ymedio visited Concha Street, where the Miguel Enríquez Hospital (known by local residents as “La Benéfica”) is located. A day earlier the area had been completely inundated. Water levels there reached a considerable height, entering the homes of local residents.
There were signs of the heavy rains in the district, where water ran down the street leaving plastic bags and tree branches caught along posts and street curbs. Puddles could be seen in most of the streets, making some impassable. Good Samaritans removed the garbage that was blocking some drains, which were slow to digest the accumulated water.
Though Cubans have always feared storms, along with the resulting wind and rain, they fear hunger and illness even more.
On Friday, when the energy situation finally could not get any worse, authorities announced the power grid had failed and ordered the cessation of all non-essential activities. Yet the rain continues to fall in Havana and Cubans don’t know what to do.
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