President Fidel Castro toured storm-ravaged areas of Cuba yesterday after the strongest hurricane to hit the country in more than 40 years left five people dead, toppled trees, downed power lines and damaged homes.
Hurricane Michelle, now downgraded to a category three storm on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale, crashed ashore on the southwest coast on Sunday with 215 kilometer (133 miles) per hour winds and driving rain.
It tore trees up by the roots and blocked roads, particularly in the provinces of Matanzas, Villa Clara, Cienfuegos and Sancti Spiritus.
Up to 700,000 people in Cuba were evacuated during the storm, which killed at least 10 people as it swept through Central America before reaching the Caribbean's largest island, home to more than 11 million people.
In Cuba, four people were killed in building collapses and one drowned, civil defence officials said. The deaths were all reported in Matanzas except for one in the capital.
Schools in Cuba remained closed and air and sea travel were suspended.
Telephone services were also disrupted, especially outgoing international calls.
In Havana, where collapses and cave-ins after storms are major seasonal concerns, many people stayed home from work to try to clean up damaged homes and clear debris from fallen trees.
Transport was interrupted and the capital of more than two million people lost power, which forced authorities to cut off the supply of treated tap water.
Many people had stored water on government advice.
Waterfront hotels in Havana, evacuated on Sunday slowly began reopening their doors.
With the storm lashing the island, President Castro travelled to the resort of Varadero on Sunday and met foreign tourists.
Cuban television reported that some 10,000 foreign tourists gathered to watch the storm pass in Varadero, Cuba's biggest holiday resort area.
The visitors were entertained with dancing lessons and bingo. Among them were almost 600 mostly European sun-seekers evacuated from Cayo Largo off the south-west coast.
Hurricane Michelle, which was moving towards the Bahamas yesterday, crossed Cuba from south to north and went back out to sea near Varadero.
Mr Mario Luis Morejon, of the department of tourism, told the official news agency AIN that preparations to protect visitors "were better than on previous occasions due to experience gained" during other hurricanes.
Inspections by civil defence authorities were ongoing but there were no reports of injuries to any international visitors.