250 people rescued from flooded homes

RESCUERS in inflatable rafts and amphibious vehicles pulled nearly 250 people from flooded homes yesterday after huge waves churned by Hurricane Wilma flooded the capital’s coastal highway and adjacent neighbourhoods of old, crumbling buildings.

The ocean spread up to four blocks inland, flooding streets and buildings with water up to three feet deep.

Although the Malecon coastal highway and adjacent neighbourhoods often flood during storms, the extent of yesterday's inundation was highly unusual. The outer bands of Wilma also flooded evacuated communities along the island's south coast over the weekend after the hurricane devastated Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Flooding and high winds caused heavy damage to homes in the northern coastal community of Baracoa, east of Havana.