Drought affects over 1 mn people in Cuba

Drought affects over 1 mn people in Cuba
Published May 17, 2015 EFE

The intense drought in Cuba is affecting more than 1 million people, the
official Juventud Rebelde newspaper reported Sunday, citing specialists.

The situation is being classified as "critical" in Cuba, where rainfall
levels were insufficient in every region at the end of the
February-April period, Weather Institute Climate Center researcher
Cecilia Fonseca told the newspaper.

The areas most affected by the drought are the provinces of Pinar del
Rio, in westernmost Cuba; Cienfuegos, Villa Clara and Sancti Spiritus,
located in the central part of the island; and the eastern provinces of
Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Camaguey, Ciego de Avila and Las Tunas,
Juventud Rebelde said.

Las Tunas is the most affected province, with average annual rainfall of
just 1.038 millimeters (0.04 inches) and reservoirs at 25 percent of
capacity.

The rainy season, when Cuba gets about 80 percent of its precipitation,
is starting, but the forecast for this year "is not currently
favorable," Fonseca said.

National Hydraulic Resources Institute Water Management Department chief
Yunior Gonzalez, for his part, said rainfall patterns had been "pretty
erratic" this year in terms of their effect on reservoirs.

Water trucks are being used to supply water to some of the people
affected by the drought, Gonzalez said.

The government is staging the "Meteoro 2015" exercise this weekend to
provide emergency management personnel with training in dealing with
hurricanes, powerful earthquakes, tsunamis, forest fires, chemical
spills, epidemics and other types of disasters. EFE

Source: Drought affects over 1 mn people in Cuba | Fox News Latino -
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2015/05/17/drought-affects-over-1-mn-people-in-cuba/