Widespread floods and landslides hit Cuba, leaving at least 3 people dead

Floods and landslides caused by heavy rains brought by Potential Tropical Cyclone One (later named Tropical Storm “Alex”) left at least three people dead in Cuba on June 3, 2022. The storm also brought widespread flooding to parts of Florida, U.S. and is now heading toward Bermuda.

In 30 hours to June 3, 301 mm (11.8 inches) of rain was registered in Paso Real de San Diego in Pinar del Río, 279 mm (10.98 inches) in San Juan y Martinez, Pinar del Río, 193 mm (7.59 inches) in Playa Giron, Matanzas, and 171 mm (6.73 inches) in Santiago de las Vegas, Havana.

Flooding was reported in several parts of the country including the provinces of Havana, Pinar del Río, Artemisa, Sancti Spíritus and Matanzas and also the island municipality of Isla de la Juventud.¹

The worst affected were the western and central regions of the country, including Havana where heavy rains disrupted power supply, damaged 60 homes and forced 2 300 people to evacuate.

At least 4 480 people were displaced in Pinar del Río.

Two people died in the province of Havana due to a landslide and the one in Pinar del Rio after falling into a swollen river.

The disturbance also caused widespread flooding in parts of Florida, U.S. on June 4 before exiting into the Atlantic Ocean and becoming Tropical Storm “Alex” at 06:00 UTC on June 5 – the first named storm of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season.

According to the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS), downtown Miami saw a total of 279 mm (11 inches) of rain as of Saturday morning, June 4, with some parts of the state experiencing over 305 mm (1 foot) of rain.²

Palm Beach International Airport registered 114.80 mm (4.52 inches) of rain, breaking the previous high for June 4 of 66.5 mm (2.62 inches) set in 1978.

Boca Raton in Palm Beach County registered 251.2 mm (9.89 inches) in 24 hours to midnight (LT) on June 4 while Margate received 375.6 mm (14.79 inches).

The four climate sites used by the NWS to gauge rainfall and located at airports in Naples, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and West Palm Beach all set rain records for June 4, NWS meteorologist Sammy Hadi said.

Alex is now heading toward Bermuda and is forecast to pass near or just north of the archipelago on June, bringing tropical storm conditions.

References:

¹ Cuba – Deadly Flash Floods After 300mm of Rain – FloodList – June 4, 2022

² Tropical Storm Alex heads toward Bermuda after leaving record rainfall in South Florida – Palm Beach Post – June 5, 2022

Featured image credit: Tetova News (still shot)