国际英语资讯:Cuban president pledges to aid tornado victims

HAVANA, Jan. 30 -- Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Wednesday pledged to help victims of the devastating tornado that tore through the capital Havana Sunday night.

Residents whose houses were destroyed or damaged should not feel helpless or abandoned, because the government has the political will and resources to lead the recovery efforts, he said.

The tornado, which ranked 4 on the 5-degree Fujita scale of intensity, battered several municipalities of the Cuban capital on Sunday night, leaving four people dead and 195 injured as it toppled some 748 homes and damaged countless others. It also caused damage to the power grid and water, gas and phone services..

"An organized society, a planned economy, a socialist government, will always have the reserves so no one is left behind," he said, adding that "the battered neighborhoods can be rebuilt with everyone's cooperation."

"Everything we rebuild must look better, stronger and prettier than it was before," said Diaz-Canel at a meeting Tuesday with his cabinet.

Tornadoes are not common in Cuba. The most memorable one occurred in December 1940, when a tornado swept the western town of Bejucal, causing casualties.