At least one dead as downpours flood eastern Cuba

(Tasnim News Agency) – A 60-year-old man drowned in the municipality of Jiguani, Granma region in Cuba after the Bayamo river overflowed its banks.

Cuban Government TV showed images of heavy flooding and dramatic rescues, with villages cut off, crops destroyed and power outages, Reuters reported.

Granma authorities said more than 7,000 people were evacuated to state-run shelters or family homes, and some 10,000 homes had suffered damage.

The Cuban Meteorological Institute said the rains and thunderstorms were caused by a combination of a trough in the middle and upper levels of the atmosphere and a flow of humid air from the south.

Weather authorities are forecasting downpours for the next 24 hours.