“We thank the Government and people of Venezuela who, under the leadership of President Nicolas Maduro, sent a new donation of humanitarian aid to Cuba for the areas affected by Hurricane Melissa,” the Cuban Foreign Minister stated on his social media account.

Melissa battered the eastern part of the island for at least seven hours, with winds of up to 200 kilometers per hour and torrential rains.

According to official figures, among other damage, it affected more than 70,000 homes and caused more than 4,000 total collapses, in addition to damaging hundreds of thousands of hectares of crops.

Reports also point out that 1,312,000 people were sheltered, including 933,000 in the homes of family, friends, and neighbors.

jdt/rgh/raj