Cuba's eastern municipalities recovering from Hurricane Matthew

Five municipalities at the eastern end of Cuba were hit hard by Hurricane Matthew but were slowly returning to normal, local press reported Saturday.

Electricity has been restored in over 90 percent of the municipalities of San Antonio del Sur, Imias, Baracoa, Maisi and Yateras, allowing food and commercial industries to return to work, according to the Cuban News Agency.

Teams of electricity workers were continuing to work to restore the electrical grid in Baracoa and Maisi, where temporary power sources were being provided by the country's power companies. The restoration work was set to last a number of days, given the extent of the damage.

The water supply has almost been entirely restored, although certain parts of Maisi remained without access due to two pumping stations being without power and a number of pipes being severely damaged.

Cellphone services have also been restored in most of the damaged areas, although workers from Cuba's state telecommunications company, ETECSA, continued work to fully restore landline services.

In San Antonio del Sur, the picking of coffee has already begun in mountainous areas and agricultural sectors such as the Valley of Caujeri have returned to work.

Cuban authorities have sought to evaluate the cost of the damage left by Matthew, especially in Baracoa, the first city founded by the island's Spanish colonists.

Last week, local authorities reported damage to only 9,000 houses in Baracoa.

Matthew, considered the strongest hurricane in the Atlantic since Felix in 2007, hit Cuba on Oct. 5 but left no people dead.

However, it brutalized parts of Haiti, killing over 1,000 people, according to media estimates, as well as at least 43 people in the United States, four in the Dominican Republic, one in Colombia and one in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Endit