HAVANA, Cuba — A tornado in eastern Havana has killed three people and injured 174 others, Cuba's president said.

The Cuban capital was battered late Sunday and early Monday by powerful winds and heavy rains. A blackout hit many Havana neighborhoods around 9 p.m.

Early Monday, President Miguel Diaz-Canel posted photos of himself on Twitter with rescue workers besides what appeared to be a vehicle overturned by the storm. Little further information about the storm appeared in state media.

Photos posted by Cuban media and Havana residents on Twitter showed cars crushed by fallen light posts and cars trapped in floodwaters around the city.

One local radio station said on Twitter that the neighborhoods of Regla and 10 de Octubre and the town of San Miguel de Padron had been affected by the tornado.</s>HAVANA, Cuba (AP) — Cuban president says on Twitter that a tornado in eastern Havana has killed 3 people and injured 174.</s>Cuban president says on Twitter that a tornado in eastern Havana has killed 3 people and injured 174

HAVANA, Cuba (AP) — Cuban president says on Twitter that a tornado in eastern Havana has killed 3 people and injured 174.</s>A rare and powerful tornado that struck Havana killed three people and injured 174 others, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said early on Monday.

Diaz-Canel, who toured the darkened streets of Havana in the pre-dawn hours visiting emergency crews, wrote on Twitter that damage to the Cuban capital from tornado that struck late on Sunday was "severe".

The tornado overturned vehicles, uprooted trees, knocked down lampposts, and left part of the city in the dark.

In the city's Luyano neighbourhood, storm debris, including parts of a balcony ripped off an old building, blocked the streets, AFP photographers reported.

As emergency sirens blared across the city, firefighters and ambulances rushed about on rescue missions, their flashing lights giving light to blacked out areas.

"As of now we mourn the loss of three human lives and 174 injured people are receiving aid," Diaz-Canel tweeted.

He added several emergency teams were working hard to restore power to blacked-out areas.

At the Hijas de Galicia maternity hospital staff were forced to evacuate the building because of storm damage.

The tornado, spawned by a powerful storm that originated in the Gulf of Mexico, hit western Cuba with winds of up to 100 kilometres per hour.

People described the tornado as having "the sound of a jet engine" and reported feeling changes in the environmental pressure when it arrived, Armando Caymares with the Institute of Meteorology said.

The tornado "caught me in the street, in the car with my wife and children", actor Luis "Panfilo" Silva wrote on his social media account.

"I had to dodge fallen trees, flooded areas and strong winds until I managed to get home. We experienced great fear," he wrote.</s>HAVANA, Cuba (AP) — Cuba’s president says a tornado in eastern Havana has killed three people and injured 174 others.

The Cuban capital was battered late Sunday and early Monday by powerful winds and heavy rains. A blackout hit many Havana neighborhoods around 9 p.m.

Early Monday, President Miguel Diaz-Canel posted photos of himself on Twitter with rescue workers besides what appeared to be a vehicle overturned by the storm. Little further information about the storm appeared in state media.</s>HAVANA, Cuba — A tornado and pounding rains smashed into the eastern part of Cuba's capital overnight, toppling trees, bending power poles and flinging shards of metal roofing through the air as the storm cut a path of destruction across eastern Havana.

Power was cut to many areas and President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Monday at least three people were killed and 172 injured.

Julio Menendez, a 33-year-old restaurant worker said Havana's 10 de Octubre borough "looks like a horror movie."

"From one moment to the next, we heard a noise like an airplane falling out of the sky. The first thing I did was go hug my daughters," who are 9 and 12, he told The Associated Press.

Driver Oster Rodriguez said that amid a fierce storm, what looked like a thick, swirling cloud touched down in the central plaza of the Reparto Modelo neighborhood "like a fireball." He saw a bus blown over, though he said the driver escaped unharmed.

The windows in the seven-story Daughters of Galicia Hospital had been sucked out of their frames by the wind, leaving curtains flapping in the breeze, and all the patients, new and expectant mothers, had to be evacuated. In the streets, a palm tree more than 30 feet tall had crushed a pre-revolutionary American car.

Photos posted on Twitter by Havana residents showed cars crushed by fallen light posts and cars trapped in floodwaters around the city. The neighborhoods of Regla and 10 de Octubre and the town of San Miguel de Padron had been affected by the tornado.

Leanys Calvo, a restaurant cook in the 10th of October borough, said she was working Sunday night despite heavy rain and wind when she heard a rumbling noise outside and looked out to see what appeared to be a tornado touching down.

"It was something that touched down, and then took off again. It was like a tower," she said, describing it as displaying colors of red and green. "It was here for two-three seconds, nothing more. They were the most frightening seconds of my life."</s>HAVANA -- A tornado and pounding rains smashed into Cuba's capital shortly after 8:30 p.m. Havana time Sunday, and President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Monday that at least three people were killed and 172 were injured.

Cuba is used to seeing waterspouts, or tornadoes over water, but tornadoes themselves are rare. The most recent one before Sunday's appears to have occurred in May 2013.

Miguel Angel Hernandez of the Cuban Center for Meteorology said the tornado was a Category F3 on the Cuban scale, with winds between 155 and 199 miles per hour, produced when a cold front hit Cuba's northern coast. That makes it the strongest tornado to hit Cuba since a Category F4 on Dec. 26, 1940.

Julio Menendez, a 33-year-old restaurant worker, said his neighborhood in Havana's 10 de Octubre municipality looked "like a horror movie."

"From one moment to the next, we heard a noise like an airplane falling out of the sky. The first thing I did was go hug my daughters," who are 9 and 12, he said.

Members of the Provincial Defense Council of Havana said 90 homes collapsed completely and 30 partially collapsed.

More than 200,000 people lost water service, largely because of power cuts that left pumps out of service. Some 100 underground cisterns close to the coastal section of Havana were contaminated by seawater.

Three electric substations were knocked out by the tornado.

Some of the heaviest damage from the tornado was in the eastern borough of Guanabacoa, where the storm tore the roof off a shelter for dozens of homeless families.

Maria Esther Linares, 54, was killed while searching for safe shelter after the tornado broke the roof of the home where she was living with two granddaughters, said her grandson, Yoelkis Dip.

Dianabys Bueno, 31, was living in the shelter with her husband and son after they were forced to relocate by the collapse of their home in central Havana. Much of the housing in Havana is in dire condition due to years without maintenance, and building collapses are routine even in ordinary storms.

"This has already happened to us once," Bueno said. "I'm not going anywhere."</s>Havana, Cuba -- Cuba's president said Monday that a tornado in eastern Havana had killed three people and injured 174 others. The Cuban capital was battered late Sunday and early Monday by powerful winds and heavy rains. A blackout hit many Havana neighborhoods around 9 p.m.

Early Monday, President Miguel Diaz-Canel posted photos of himself on Twitter with rescue workers besides what appeared to be a vehicle overturned by the storm. Little further information about the storm appeared in state media.

Photos posted by Cuban media and Havana residents on Twitter showed cars crushed by fallen light posts and trapped in floodwaters around the city. One local radio station said on Twitter that the neighborhoods of Regla and 10th of October, and the town of San Miguel de Padron, had been affected by the tornado.

Julio Menendez, a 33-year-old restaurant worker, said the 10th of October borough "looks like a horror movie."

Menendez, who was home Sunday night when the tornado hit, said "from one moment to the next, we heard a noise like an airplane falling out of the sky. The first thing I did was go hug my daughters," who are nine and 12.

He spoke Monday near the Daughters of Galicia Hospital, whose patients, all expectant mothers or mothers with newborns, were evacuated to another hospital. Many glass windows in the seven-story hospital had been sucked out of their frames by the power of the wind, leaving curtains flapping in the breeze.</s>HAVANA (AP) — The Latest on Cuba’s deadly weather (all times local): 1:11 p.m. Cuban officials say 125 homes were damaged by a tornado, heavy rains and severe winds overnight. Members of the Provincial Defense…

HAVANA (AP) — The Latest on Cuba’s deadly weather (all times local):

Cuban officials say 125 homes were damaged by a tornado, heavy rains and severe winds overnight.

Members of the Provincial Defense Council of Havana tell state media Monday that 90 homes collapsed completely and 30 suffered partial collapse.

More than 200,000 people lost water service, largely because of power cuts that left pumps out of service. Some 100 underground cisterns close to the coastal section of Havana were contaminated by seawater.

Three electric substations were knocked out by the tornado, the strongest to hit Cuba since Dec. 26, 1940, when a Category F4 tornado hit the town of Bejucal, in what is now Mayabeque province.

A government meteorologist says the tornado that struck Havana was a Category F3, with winds between 155 and 199 miles per hour.

Miguel Angel Hernandez of the Cuban Center for Meteorology says tornados are unusual around the capital and a strong one hadn’t hit the city in decades. He says Sunday night’s storm was produced when a cold front hit Cuba’s northern coast, similar to one that struck in 1993, although without producing a tornado.

Some of the heaviest damage from the rare Havana tornado is in the eastern borough of Guanabacoa, where the apparent twister tore the roof off a shelter for dozens of homeless families.

Cubans enduring long waits for government housing often live in such multifamily shelters for years.

Yoelkis Dip says his 54-year-old grandmother María Esther Linares was killed while hunting for safe shelter after the tornado broke the roof of the home where she was living with two granddaughters.

Thirty-one-year-old Dianabys Bueno was living in the shelter with her husband and son after they were forced to relocate by the collapse of their home in Central Havana. Much of the housing in Havana is in dire condition due to years without maintenance, and building collapses are routine even in ordinary storms.

Bueno says, “This has already happened to us once,” and adds, I’m not going anywhere.”

Cuba’s president says the storm that hit late Sunday has killed three people and injured 172 others.

The tornado that hit Havana tore the concrete roof off an apartment building in the Regla district and dumped it into an alleyway, briefly trapping residents in their homes.

Seventy-seven-year-old Marlene Marrero Garcia says she was in her ground-floor apartment with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren Sunday night when she heard electrical transformers begin to explode. Then the tornado passed.

She says, “It looked like fire, everything was red, then everything began to fall.”

Marrero says she and her family were trapped by debris for about half an hour before firefighters arrived.

She and other residents said two of their neighbors had been hospitalized.

Cuba’s president says the storm has killed three people and injured 172 others.

Leanys Calvo, a restaurant cook in Havana’s 10th of October borough, says she was working Sunday night despite heavy rain and wind when she heard a rumbling noise outside and looked out to see what appeared to be a tornado touching down.

The 38-year-old says early Monday that “it was something that touched down, and then took off again. It was like a tower.” She says it was red and green, adding “it was here for 2-3 seconds, nothing more. They were the most frightening seconds of my life.”

Police officers on the scene early Monday said 73 people were injured and hospitalized in the 10th of October section but no one had died. They declined to give their names because they were not authorized.

Cuba’s president says the tornado has killed three people and injured 174 others.

A reported tornado has left a trail of destruction across the Cuban capital of Havana.

Power poles in the city’s 10th of October borough have been knocked over or were leaning precariously early Monday, held up only by their electrical lines. A palm tree more than 30 feet (9 meters) tall had crushed a pre-revolutionary American car.

The tornado ripped metal sheeting off many roofs and hurled the deadly shards through the air. The streets are littered with bricks fallen from housing facades. The windows in one seven-story hospital had been sucked out of their frames by the wind and all the patients, new and expectant mothers, had to be evacuated.

Havana was battered late Sunday and early Monday by powerful winds and heavy rains. Cuba’s president says the tornado killed three people and injured 174 others.

Julio Menendez, a 33-year-old restaurant worker, says Havana’s 10th of October borough “looks like a horror movie” after what appeared to be a deadly tornado swept through.

Menendez, who was home Sunday night when the tornado hit, says “from one moment to the next, we heard a noise like an airplane falling out of the sky. The first thing I did was go hug my daughters” — who are nine and 12.

The Cuban capital was battered late Sunday and early Monday by powerful winds and heavy rains that downed many power lines. Cuba’s president says the tornado killed three people and injured 174 others.

Menendez spoke Monday near the Daughters of Galicia Hospital, whose patients, all expectant mothers or mothers with newborns, were evacuated to another hospital. Many glass windows in the seven-story hospital had been sucked out of their frames by the power of the wind, leaving curtains flapping in the breeze.

Cuba’s president says a tornado in eastern Havana has killed three people and injured 174 others.

The Cuban capital was battered late Sunday and early Monday by powerful winds and heavy rains. A blackout hit many Havana neighborhoods around 9 p.m.

Early Monday, President Miguel Diaz-Canel posted photos of himself on Twitter with rescue workers besides what appeared to be a vehicle overturned by the storm. Little further information about the storm appeared in state media.

Photos posted by Cuban media and Havana residents on Twitter showed cars crushed by fallen light posts and cars trapped in floodwaters around the city. One local radio station said on Twitter that the Regla and 10th of October sections of Havana and the town of San Miguel de Padron had been affected by the tornado.

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>Three people have been killed and more than 170 were injured as a tornado devastated the Cuban capital of Havana on Sunday evening.

Gusts of winds of more than 62mph tore through parts of Havana around 9pm on Sunday, bringing heavy rain and hail.

The storm caused city-wide power-cuts, destroyed buildings and sent cars flying, local media reports.

Tornado's are rare on Cuba, and this was the first twister to hit the capital in decades.

The full magnitude of the damage is not yet known, however photos and video footage posted on social media by Havana residents show the destruction the tornado has left in its wake.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel said early Monday that three people had been killed and 174 injured in the storm, however the number of casualties may rise.

He added that several emergency teams were working hard to restore power to blacked-out areas.

In the city's Luyano neighborhood storm debris - including parts of a balcony ripped off an old building - blocked the streets, AFP photographers reported.

As emergency sirens blared across the city, firefighters and ambulances rushed about on rescue missions, their flashing lights giving light to blacked out areas.

At the Hijas de Galicia maternity hospital staff were forced to evacuate the building due to storm damage.

The tornado, spawned by a powerful storm that originated in the Gulf of Mexico, hit western Cuba with winds of up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour.

People described the tornado as having 'the sound of a jet engine,' and reported feeling changes in the environmental pressure when it arrived, Armando Caymares with the Institute of Meteorology said.

The tornado 'caught me in the street, in the car with my wife and children,' actor Luis 'Panfilo' Silva wrote on his social media account.

'I had to dodge fallen trees, flooded areas and strong winds until I managed to get home. We experienced great fear,' he wrote.
A tornado in eastern Havana, Cuba, kills three people and injures 174 others.