Havana, Cuba.- Cuba”s President Miguel Diaz-Canel highlighted the response of Havana authorities and people in general immediately after the devastating impact of the tornado that battered several municipalities of the city on the night of January 27.

‘We acted according to the teachings of Fidel and Raul Castro, with the priority to save lives, prevent further victims and assess the damage to immediately start recovery works,’ he said at a TV appearance from the Palace of Government on Wednesday night.

In the Round Table news hour, the Head of State praised the quick reaction of local authorities, the central Government, the Armed Forces, firefighters and neighbors that jointly cooperated in rescue works.

Diaz-Canel conveyed his condolences to families who lost loved ones and have wounded members , as well as material damages. He stressed work will not cease until families and institutions fully recover from the tragedy.

The immediate toll was 4 dead and 195 wounded, however another 2 seriously injured victims perished to the wounds days after raising the number of dead to 6. The tornado destroyed 500 houses and partially damaged 757. In all, some 4,812 suffered some kind of damage which the authorities have technically identified for problems to be solved.

He commented that a climatic event of this nature can not be predicted, differently from hurricanes and other weather events.

‘We were not unready, but we were unable to predict the mighty tornado, an event that has not hit the island since the 1940’s,’ he said alluding to weather warnings issued during the tragic Sunday when the destructive windstorm, with gust of up to 400 kilometers per hour, ravaged areas of the municipalities of Diez de Octubre, Cerro, Regla, Guanabacoa, and Habana del Este.

He recalled that the devastating tornado that destroyed or severely damaged strong concrete houses and buildings swept those areas along 20 kilometers in 20 minutes, causing huge damages.