A severe local storm caught the city of Guantánamo by surprise this Thursday, bringing intense rains, hail, and strong gusts of wind that resulted in an unusual amount of damage: several solar panels installed on homes and state centers were ripped off and thrown onto the streets.
The images shared on social media show photovoltaic structures completely detached from roofs and scattered across the streets of the city, a scene that drew attention at a time when Cuba is betting on solar energy to alleviate the deep crisis of its electric power system.
According to reports from meteorologists and local authorities, the storm recorded wind gusts of up to 104 kilometers per hour, accompanied by torrential rain, lightning strikes, and hail. Although no casualties were reported, there was damage to lightweight roofs, trees, electrical networks, and photovoltaic systems.
The meteorologist Raisa Rodríguez explained that the phenomenon was classified as a Severe Local Storm (SLS), favored by the combination of intense heat, high humidity, and a highly unstable atmosphere, conditions that led to the rapid development of clouds capable of generating destructive winds.
The journalist Lilibeth Alfonso Martínez noted that the damage was particularly visible in the photovoltaic panel systems installed both in private homes and in state institutions in Guantánamo. Photos released after the event show several metal structures bent and torn away by the force of the wind.
Other reports indicate that the weather station at the Center recorded a gust of 67.6 kilometers per hour, although experts warned that in areas without measuring instruments, the winds could have been significantly higher.
The damage also affected lightweight roofs, poles, power lines, and trees in various neighborhoods of the city, while neighbors shared videos of the moment when the intense rain nearly reduced visibility to zero.
The episode takes place in a particularly delicate context for Cuba, where the government is promoting the expansion of solar parks and the installation of photovoltaic systems as one of its main strategies to address the prolonged blackouts affecting much of the country.
For the moment, local authorities have not reported how many solar systems were damaged or the cost of the damage caused by the weather phenomenon.
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