Cuba wraps up its Meteoro 2021 Civil Defense Exercise

HAVANA, Cuba, May 24 (ACN) The Meteoro 2021 Civil Defense Exercise ended as planned this weekend throughout the country with a view to reducing the impact of natural disasters that hit Cuba every year, whose hurricane season will run from June 1 to November 30.

In view of the complex epidemiological situation in the province of Matanzas, the territory developed the People's Exercise under the premise of social isolation with the implementation of activities aimed at reducing the impact of natural disasters.

William Gonzalez Hernandez, head of the Civil Defense group of the Provincial Defense Council in Matanzas, explained that the Meteoro 2021 reviewed disaster risk reduction plans, fundamentally linked to the behavior of the cyclonic season in Cuba.

During the day of this Saturday all the municipal councils with their respective defense zones worked on the proposal of actions and the analysis of preparedness reports, while Sunday was dedicated the day to the execution of punctual works in the work entities aimed at the cleaning of canals, ditches, wells, closing of water leaks and pruning of trees.

The work of the Meteoro 2021 exercise, on its 35th anniversary in the province of Cienfuegos, focused on controlling vulnerabilities in time, in view of the approaching hurricane season.

Maridé Fernández López, president of the Provincial Defense Council, led the tour today in the municipality of Cumanayagua where the Paso Bonito Dam is 99 percent full, while the Avilés Dam -the largest in the territory- reports 91 percent, shortly before the beginning of the rainy season.

At the same time, in the municipality of Cienfuegos they pointed out the availability of more than 20 water supply trucks for the population and relevant service centers, in extreme situations caused by breaks in the supply systems in the event of a hurricane, or in case of other contingencies.

On the second day of the Meteoro 2021 Popular Exercise, in Pinar del Río, the group specialized in operations and rescue at all levels was activated to act in extreme situations, in which most of its members are volunteers and have contributed to the evacuation of people during earthquakes, floods caused by heavy rains and tropical cyclones.