Mayabeque municipalities flooded due to the effects of Hurricane Helene.

Hurricane Helene has left flooding in the streets and homes in the municipalities of Batabanó, Melena del Sur, and San Nicolás, in the province of Mayabeque, according to images shared on Facebook by Yuniasky Crespo Baquero, the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba in the area.

Prior to the hurricane's arrival, provincial authorities created a Temporary Work Group, based in Mayabeque, that was already aware of the need to "safeguard" the residents of those low-lying areas along the coastal province. However, their efforts did not prevent the same images from recurring. In addition, they ordered fishing boats from the Surgidero de Batabanó Fishing Company to dock, according to the state-run Diario de Mayabeque.

Hurricane Helene reached category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale on the morning of this Thursday and began to approach the coasts of Florida as a cyclone. Its effects were strongly felt on Wednesday in the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico) and in the western part of Cuba.

The southeast of Cape Coral, Florida, was hit this Thursday by strong winds, potentially associated with a tornado, due to the outer bands of Hurricane Helene, which continues to lash the region.

It was right on the way to Florida, on the afternoon of this Thursday, that Helene became a category 3 hurricane. Flood warnings have been extended to Georgia.

The flooding caused by Hurricane Helene complicates the health situation in Mayabeque. According to Francisco Durán, national director of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the province is one of the most exposed to dengue and Oropuche, diseases that have been particularly active in the last week in Pinar del Río, Cienfuegos, and Villa Clara.

This is the second hurricane named Helene. In 2018, another tropical cyclone of category two carried this name. The previous one was notable for being one of the few tropical systems to approach Europe, affecting Portugal, Spain, France, and the United Kingdom.