Havana, November 19 (RHC)-- The president of the National Defense Council and Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel urged on Monday the authorities of the provinces affected by hurricanes and strong earthquakes to speed up the recovery of housing and basic services.   During a meeting to evaluate recovery actions, it was learned that the western province of Artemisa, hit by Hurricane Rafael, has restored nearly 60 percent of its electricity service.

The president of the Provincial Defense Council, Gladys Martínez, informed that work is being carried out on the diagnosis and repair of the 21,60 thousand affected houses, of which 6,489 already have a technical file.

It was reported that Mayabeque province returned to normality on Monday and 98 percent of the clients have electricity in their homes.

In this regard, the Cuban president indicated to conclude as soon as possible the reestablishment of the service, at the same time that he called to advance with more seriousness in Artemisa.

The highest authorities of Santiago de Cuba, Granma and the National Civil Defense General Staff updated during the meeting on the recovery efforts of the territories impacted by two strong earthquakes.

The eastern region of Cuba, especially the province of Granma, was affected by the shaking of these 6.0 and 6.8 magnitude earthquakes and their aftershocks, which damaged infrastructure, caused partial collapse of houses, stairways, as well as cracking of walls.

The tremors also caused severe failures in electrical and communications networks, among other damages, while other eastern regions are struggling to recover from the scourge of Hurricane Oscar last month.

Cuba is promoting the recovery from the damages caused by these events, as well as those caused by the scourge of hurricane Rafael, which hit the west of the island with category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale.   (Source: Prensa Latina)