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A severe local storm hit the city of Las Tunas, in eastern Cuba, on Tuesday, accumulating 62 millimeters of rain in just one hour and ten minutes, and leaving several streets and bridges flooded, according to the Provincial Meteorological Center.
The director of the Provincial Meteorological Center, Alexey Moreno Borges, specified that the event was accompanied by strong electrical discharges and gusts of wind that lasted throughout that time.
The Meteorological Station in the capital of Las Tunas recorded 40 millimeters of rain and a maximum wind gust of 80 km/h, a difference that reflects the concentration of the phenomenon over the urban area.
As a result, several streets and bridges remain flooded, causing traffic obstructions and difficulties in urban mobility, according to information shared by journalist Ordey Díaz Escalona.
As of the latest available information, authorities have not reported any significant material damage or casualties from the storm.
This is the second intense weather event in less than ten days in the province: on April 26, the onset of the spring rainy season resulted in a total of 108.9 mm of rain within 48 hours in the provincial capital, which also experienced flooding in low-lying areas.
Before, on the first of March, a severe local storm brought hail and over 30 mm in just thirty minutes over the same city.
Severe local storms are common in Las Tunas between May and September, associated with evening instability, high temperatures, and the humidity of the Caribbean Sea.
In August 2025, the province reached a historic record of precipitation of 118.4 mm in 24 hours, surpassing the previous record of 111 mm set in 1998.
A month earlier, in May 2025, severe storms caused damage to homes and the electrical grid in Puerto Padre, a municipality in the same province.
The urban drainage infrastructure in Las Tunas is inadequate, worsening the impact of each intense rainfall event on the population.
The event also takes place at the start of Cuba's official rainy season, which began on May 1 and accounts for 80% of the country's annual rainfall between May and October.
The province is experiencing a severe structural water crisis: in 2025, reservoirs were at 33% of their capacity, affecting over 90,000 people, marking the fifth driest year in Cuba since 1901.
Significantly, the bridge over the El Salado River, at kilometer 34 of the Las Tunas-Bayamo road, had been declared passable only on Monday after repair work involving 500 tons of asphalt, following the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa in October 2025, and it is already facing the pressure of new floodwaters.
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