Due to the communist Castro dictatorship’s criminal negligence, a building collapse is possible on a sunny day in Cuba. Add heavy rains into the mix, and it becomes almost a certainty. The Cuban regime has neglected the maintenance of buildings — all illegally expropriated and now owned by the State — preferring instead to invest its money in hotels and resorts for foreign tourists. This has left the Cuban people living in dangerous structures that can collapse at any moment. In other words, socialism in action.
Via Diario de Cuba (my translation):
28 building collapses in three municipalities, the preliminary effect of 12 hours of rain in Havana
Havana’s government reported that, as a result of the heavy rains that occurred on Wednesday in the Cuban capital, there were 28 collapses in the municipalities of Centro Habana, Diez de Octubre, and Cerro, 17 of which were partial roof collapses and eleven were total collapses.
According to a summary of the meeting of capital authorities posted on their Facebook page, it was specified that none of these incidents resulted in deaths among the residents of the houses; however, these details are preliminary.
Also, in the El Manguito community, in Havana del Este, 36 houses suffered damages that were not mentioned after the Cojímar River overflowed, flooding extensive areas and interrupting vehicular traffic on the Monumental road, as reported on social media by numerous Havana residents.
Officials from the government and the Communist Party attending the meeting acknowledged “the prompt response of political and governmental authorities, present since the early hours of the morning, accompanying residents in vulnerable areas across the 15 Havana territories,” as stated in the note.
According to authorities, over 4 inches of rain fell in Havana within 12 hours, between 8:00 PM on Tuesday and 8:00 AM on Wednesday.
In the official publication’s forum, not a single comment expressed satisfaction with the officials. “From what I see, the correct measures weren’t taken to prevent flooding, let alone prevent collapses. It’s a real disaster that so much damage occurred due to one night of heavy rain!” questioned Raúl Rojas Leiva.
Meanwhile, Cecilia Cristóbal commented, “What needs to be provided are construction materials so that citizens can maintain their houses. My neighborhood is a vulnerable area, and I didn’t see anyone ‘accompanying’ us.”
Osvaldo Ferrari Fernández added, “They should emphasize garbage collection, which causes drainage and sewer systems to clog. If they had used the money spent on that meeting to collect the garbage from the corner of my house, the sidewalk by the D and 11 streets pharmacy wouldn’t keep breaking because cars drive over it due to the garbage occupying the entire street.”
The damage assessment, which does not mention power outages of up to 20 hours in some Havana areas, comes shortly after the Cuban Meteorology Institute issued an early warning stating that “an extratropical low will form in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday the 15th, which will rapidly intensify, move northeast towards the northern portion of the Florida peninsula, and maintain its influence over the western region of Cuba in the coming days.”
This phenomenon, the warning notes, “will affect western Cuba from Saturday the 16th,” causing “deteriorating weather conditions with somewhat strong southerly winds, leading to coastal flooding in low-lying areas of the southern coast of the western provinces.”
Additionally, the meteorological situation will bring new showers, rains, and thunderstorms, “which could become strong and intense in some locations. The possibility of severe local storms occurring is not ruled out,” according to the Meteorology Institute.
The cold front associated with the low is expected to move on Sunday towards the central and eastern parts of the island, the note adds, warning that “the combination of extratropical low pressures in the southeast United States and continental high pressures will generate strong northwest winds starting Saturday afternoon, persisting on Sunday over the Gulf of Mexico and western Cuba.”
This will result in “strong swells on the northwestern coast, with coastal flooding in low-lying areas of this coastline, including the Havana Malecón, from Sunday the 17th.”
The Forecast Center of the Meteorology Institute assured that they are closely monitoring the evolution of the weather system. However, it’s common now for a local storm or a few hours of rain to generate chaotic situations in areas of Havana that a few years ago were only seen in a similar situation during a hurricane.
What is amazing to me is that people were still living in this building. Look at the images of the building. You don’t need to be a structural engineer to realize this building needs to be taken down.