Tropical Storm Paula weakens after hitting Havana

HAVANA, (Reuters) – Tropical Storm Paula weakened  further yesterday after blasting through the Cuban capital  with driving rains and high winds that toppled trees, flooded  streets and left large swaths of the city without power.

There were no reports yet of building collapses that  usually plague the crumbling capital in stormy weather, nor of  any injuries or deaths.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Paula’s top  sustained winds had dropped to 45 miles per hour (75 kph) after  it moved inland in northwestern Cuba and swept eastward.

The storm was skirting along the north central coast 70  miles (112 km) east of Havana, near the beach resort of  Varadero, and going east at 14 mph (22 km).

It was likely to be downgraded to a tropical depression on  Friday, the Miami-based center said in its latest advisory.

Paula, a small storm that lost its hurricane strength  earlier in the day, crept ashore in northwestern Cuba around  noon and moved east across the Caribbean island, where it had  been expected to peter out over mountainous terrain.

But the worst of its weather stayed offshore in the Straits  of Florida and a small portion dipped down into Havana to whip  the city with wind and drenching rains as the storm’s eye  passed just to the south.

The stormy weather, which lasted about two hours, caused  minor flooding around the city and sent waves crashing over the  Malecon, the city’s famous seaside boulevard. Toppled trees and  power lines blocked many streets.

When night fell, much of Havana, a city of 2.2 million  people, was in the dark due to widespread power outages.