Havana, November 13 (RHC)-- Cuba is making progress in the restoration of electricity and road networks, in the care for affected families, and accelerating agricultural activities, as part of the recovery efforts after the passage of tropical storm Eta.

On Thursday, the National General Staff of the Civil Defense decreed that the provinces of Pinar del Río (West), Villa Clara, Cienfuegos and Sancti Spíritus (all in the center), strongly affected by the heavy rains, should move on to the recovery phase.

In line with the decision, the President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, and other government leaders reached the areas most affected by Eta to evaluate each territory's major impacts and the recovery measures.

The President's tour began in the central province of Villa Clara, where he learned about the activation of 94 evacuation centers and the protection of 25,000 people, most of them in family homes, due to Eta.

He described the damage caused by the hydrometeorological event as severe and called for an immediate recovery with popular participation, as described in the Presidency's Twitter profile.

Later on, the President reached the province of Cienfuegos, where Eta left an accumulated 179.5 millimeters of rain and whose reservoirs are at 97.2 percent full.

Cuban Vice President Salvador Valdés traveled to the eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba and Granma to exchange with agricultural producers and urge the people to respond decisively to the blows of nature and the impact of the economic blockade imposed by the United States for almost six decades.

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero had a meeting with the inhabitants of the Guayacanes community, in the municipality of Majagua, in the central province of Ciego de Avila, and assured that 'little by little we will continue helping and recovering'.

The Prime Minister went to Sancti Spíritus, also significantly affected by the intense rains associated with Eta. Together with the province's authorities, he learned about the damages and the recovery tasks undertaken since the end of the rains.

The phenomenon's damages are concentrated in agriculture, roads, houses, and water and electricity supply.