A severe local storm struck the coastal municipality of Pilón in Granma, resulting in the destruction of temporary schools, damaged solar panels, disruptions to the electric service, and losses in crops, just hours after another similar phenomenon caused blackouts and material damage in Camagüey.
According to the Municipal Education Directorate of Pilón, the strong winds recorded during the afternoon and night of Wednesday destroyed two classroom tents and damaged the bathroom facilities of the ESBU Juan Vitalio Acuña Núñez, in addition to affecting two tents of the semi-internship "Amiguitos de la FAR" and the primary school in the community of Ojo de Agua.
The images released by the authorities show the completely collapsed tent structures, evidence of the vulnerability of these educational spaces that were set up temporarily.
The storm also impacted the electrical infrastructure of the municipality. The first secretary of the Party in Pilón, Dayamis Silva Lara, confirmed damage to solar panels that were being installed at Etecsa and those already mounted at the local polyclinic, as well as disruptions in the electrical network.
Silva Lara stated that the service was interrupted in several areas, especially in the popular councils of Sevilla and Ojo de Agua, where customers were still without electricity due to the damage caused by the phenomenon.
In addition, the winds caused losses in banana and mango plantations belonging to local residents.
"With the strength of unity, the recovery began early," the leader affirmed while reporting on the start of efforts to restore services and assess the extent of the damages.
The storm was accompanied by heavy rainfall, strong gusts of wind, and lightning, according to local authorities.
Another episode of severe weather in eastern Cuba
The damages in Granma occurred before another severe local storm struck the city of Camagüey, where heavy rains, hail, and strong winds knocked down trees and left even the special circuits that supply the Provincial Hospital and the Oncology Hospital without electricity.
Both events occur in a context of high atmospheric instability over Cuba and exacerbate the situation of an infrastructure already deteriorated by the prolonged economic and energy crisis the country is experiencing.
In the case of Pilón, the destruction of schools in tents once again highlights the precariousness of educational facilities that continue to operate in temporary structures, now also exposed to the effects of increasingly severe weather phenomena.
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