May 28, 2007, 18:19 GMT
Havana - Heavy rain in Cuba and the resulting floods over the weekend have left two people dead, forced the evacuation of some 3,000 others and caused damage to some 370 buildings, local media reported Monday.
'Although final figures are still being evaluated, we had to regret the loss of two people, a 17-year-old young man and a 52 year old,' said the trade-union weekly Trabajadores.
The rain affecting areas in the eastern part of the country also damaged sugar cane fields, forcing an early end to the harvest.
Several hundred residents of the town of Banes, some 825 kilometres east of Havana, had been evacuated preventively.
Reports indicate that the areas affected by the rain have started to go back to normality, although the authorities do not rule out that the rain might persist.
Eastern Cuba has suffered an intense drought in the past decade, but has had heavy rain since last year. The weekend's rain found the soil saturated with water, following frequent downpours in recent weeks.
This situation is particularly worrying for Cuban authorities given that the cyclone season in the country starts Friday. Meteorologists have estimated that the season, which ends November 30, will be 'very active.'
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