By Roberto Morejon

Cubans living in the western part of the archipelago had a hectic weekend, not at all usual for days usually spent resting, in order to reduce the damages caused by a hydro-meteorological mishap.
 
The association of heavy rains, occasional winds and hail stunned hundreds of thousands of Cubans, despite the precise warnings of meteorologists.

The occasional heavy rains and winds affected some rivers and streams, overflowed riverbeds and caused more than twenty collapses of houses, agricultural and livestock facilities and other buildings.

The size of the hailstones, to the perplexity of Cubans, impacted some crops, with the consequent damage to agriculture.

With the dexterity provided by the culture of Civil Defense strengthened in the confrontation of tropical cyclones, residents in the western part of Cuba initially cleared roads and streets of trees and parts of the power lines.

The initial damage to almost 270,000 customers of Empresa Eléctrica, mainly in Havana, highlighted the severity of the storm, associated with an extra-tropical low and a cold front.

The authorities immediately set up the so-called processing offices here, where the affected people were to go, in order to quantify the damage and implement the recovery.

While hundreds of residents sought shelter in safe state buildings, others were sheltered in the homes of neighbors and friends to avoid being hit by the raging waters.

The prompt instruction to groups of workers of the electric company from other provinces to help those most affected in the west, also marked the weekend in the largest of the Antilles.

A brigade of these technicians was sent from Pinar del Río to Havana, despite the fact that the westernmost region of the archipelago was also affected, although to a lesser extent.

This is a new sign, among others, of the spirit of solidarity of Cubans who, in spite of acute material shortages, essentially due to the U.S. blockade, share the little they have and help those who are most in need.