Floods in the town of Las Tunas due to heavy rains

The heavy rains that fell this Saturday in eastern Cuba caused flooding in Jobabo, Las Tunas, where the water accumulated in the streets flooded homes and state institutions.

A social media post by Yaidel Miguel Rodríguez Castro, a journalist at the government-run Radio Cabaniguán in Jobabo, shared images of the flooding in the municipality of nearly 50,000 inhabitants.

"We need to check the readings of the rain gauges later; it has rained quite a bit in #obabo, at least in the center of the town the impact of the downpour is noticeable... Water entering homes and state institutions," reported Rodríguez Castro.

The day before, the National Institute of Meteorology (INSMET) warned in its weather forecast of "storm activity and very heavy rainfall" in Eastern Cuba. Additionally, it noted "configurations with values that could generate severe weather in some areas of the Camagüey and Ciego de Ávila regions."

The images shared by Rodríguez Castro showed completely flooded streets in the town, with water entering homes and institutions like the municipal House of Culture.

The storm recorded in Jobabo shares meteorological characteristics with the severe local storm that caused heavy flooding in several locations in Las Tunas on Saturday, August 17, including damage to electrical installations and harm to agricultural crops.

According to the report from the CiberCuba correspondent of the Cuban News Agency (ACN) in the Tunero territory, the storm was accompanied by "strong winds, electrical discharges, and a locally intense accumulated rainfall of 133.5 millimeters (mm) of rain."

The weather station located in the provincial capital of Las Tunas recorded 79 mm of precipitation and a wind gust of 73 km/h. The weather phenomenon left impressive images of the flooding in the city of Las Tunas.

Followers of independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada sent a video showing water flowing through the city.

The images were recorded in the La Loma neighborhood, very close to the bus terminal of the province, the communicator noted. He also mentioned that the rains caused flooding on 48th Street between 67 and Waldemar Díaz.

Meteorological specialists noted that the local storm formed due to favorable conditions and strong daytime heating, with a maximum temperature during this day of 35.0 degrees Celsius.

They also highlighted the significant electrical discharges that were practically sustained for more than two hours during the strength of the rain.