Hurricane Wilma causes floods, blackout in coastal Cuba

Hurricane Wilma causes floods, blackout in coastal Cuba

Torrential rains triggered by Hurricane Wilma caused flooding, which reached over one meter high on some roads in coastal Cuba, and knocked out electricity in much of the capital Havana, the Cuban meteorological authorities said Monday.
The hurricane has now moved to the southeastern US state of Florida, but the sea levels around the island country will remain high until Tuesday, Cuban meteorologists said.
Cuba has been affected by the hurricane since the beginning of last week, although the island was not directly hit.
The worst-affected areas were en Guanimar, Surgidero de Batabano, Vedado and Miramar, on the coast south of Havana.
There were no immediate reports of casualties anywhere on the island. Nearly 700,000 people were evacuated across the island's west in recent days as Wilma approached, the official National Information Agency said Monday.
Wilma began accelerating toward Florida on Monday after lashing the Caribbean region for several days.
It had hit Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, killing at least eight people in tourist resorts before moving northeast toward Cuba and Florida.
The Mexican government reported Monday that around 42,000 people had left their homes fleeing the hurricane, and 95 percent of the hotels in the region had suffered damage.
Source: Xinhua

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