At the Havana Electric Union the Head of State held a meeting with provincial authorities who reported there were a total of 26 landslides, 148 people were evacuated to state-run shelters and 762 citizens self-evacuated at homes of relatives and friends.

Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero, and the Secretary of Organization of the Communist Party of Cuba, Roberto Morales, accompanied the President in the situation assessment.

The Western provinces of Cuba suffered the onslaught of severe local storms that caused flash floods and damaged the power grid for over 270,000 people.

At 06:00 (local time) the provinces of Pinar del Río, Havana, Mayabeque, Artemisa and Matanzas had tens of thousands of people without electricity due to the Friday hailstorms, thunder storms and heavy rains.

Workers from the Electric Union in Villa Clara, Ciego de Avila came to the capital on Saturday to support recovery efforts.

According to reports from social network users, in Mayabeque and Artemisa provinces heavy rains also caused damage to homes, institutions and electricity service.

Cuba’s Institute of Meteorology reported that a change in weather is expected in the western region during the afternoon. There will be mostly cloudiness, showers, rain showers and thunderstorms, some of them heavy and intense in some localities.

mh/rgh/mks