Cuba rescues residents stranded by floodwaters in wake of Hurricane Melissa

RIO CAUTO, Cuba (Reuters) -Cuba worked on Friday to rescue residents still stranded by unprecedented floodwaters in the wake of Hurricane Melissa, including a flooded river that had cut off one of the country’s most important east-west thoroughfares.

The Rio Cauto overflowed its banks shortly after Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest storms on record to make landfall in the Caribbean, slammed into Cuba as a dangerous Category 3 hurricane, bringing upwards of 15 inches of rain to some areas of the eastern end of the island.

Emergency workers on Friday waded waist deep in wetsuits and used boats and military vehicles to rescue residents from the still-rising waters of the country’s longest river.

The floodwaters had cut off a principal route connecting the capital Havana in western Cu