"A total disaster is what we have in this neighborhood," says a resident of Santos Suárez after the tornado hit

Santos Suárez is one of the Havana neighborhoods that suffered the greatest damage after the tornado passing through this Sunday afternoon. The meteorological phenomenon knocked down trees, traffic lights, telephone and electricity poles, caused cars and buses to overturn and tore off the roofs of dozens of buildings.

“The wind started to blow, things to clang, things to fall (...) you see the result now in the morning. This is what happened last night and what is in this neighborhood is a total disaster,” commented one of the local residents.

According to testimonies from neighbors, the roar of the wind gusts - over 100km per hour - was similar to the noise of “aircraft turbines”.

“We thought it was an invasion, but what we see is a disaster,” said another resident of the Santos Suárez neighborhood. “First time this has been seen in Cuba and in the middle of the city. It has been devastating (...) cars in the doorways, fallen trees, poles, everything. “It has been disastrous,” he added.

The Institute of Meteorology predicted sea penetrations due to a strong storm, which also affected part of southern Florida, but never a catastrophe of such magnitude in Havana.

In a recent statement, the president of the Provincial Defense Council in Havana, Luis Antonio Torres Iríbar stated that although "intense rains" and "penetrations of the sea" were "expected" on Sunday afternoon, the tornado was "something that could not be foreseen."

A phenomenon of this type had not hit Havana since December 26, 1940, when a large tornado crossed the south of the city and left almost 40 dead and more than 400 injured.

Luyanó, Vía Blanca, Regla, Chibás and Diez de Octubre have been other of the capital territories affected. In the latter, it was necessary to transfer the patients of the Hijos de Galicia maternity hospital, mostly pregnant women and children.

So far, the Island's authorities have reported a total of three deaths and 172 injuries. However, Luis Antonio Torres declared on state television that the death toll is still preliminary; with the collapses in homes, it cannot be ruled out that there are more victims.