• Submitted by: manso
• Society
• 06 / 09 / 2011

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2011.06.07 - 21:25:47 / radiorebelde.icrt.cu. Baracoa, Cuba.- After 13 days of uninterrupted rains in the eastern Cuban municipality of Baracoa, sand banks at the mouth of the Miel and Macaguanigua rivers opened with the rise of the rivers’ level, leading local authorities to evacuate children from a school nearby.

According to First NCO Ivan Campos, of the city’s fire department, river floods are feared as rains are likely to continue.

Campos explained that when the sand banks open it means that the river is releasing and therefore is about to become a threat.

Classes at the Perucho Figueredo School were suspended due to the flood threat and children were sent home. The school is located in Cabacú, a town close to the mouth of the Miel River.

Members of the fire department immediately headed to the site and are awaiting instructions from the Civil Defense Council for the evacuation of the population if the rains continue.  

In spite of the threat, the people from Baracoa are rather happy as the precipitations will come to relief the deep drought in the region, where barely 18% of annual average rainfall has been reported so far this year when the country is on the second month of its rainy season.

(ACN)