11 SEP 2017: Powerful waves and storm surge from Hurricane Irma topped Havana’s iconic Malecon seawall and left thousands of homes, businesses and hotels swamped Sunday, even as the storm moved away from the island. There were no immediate reports of fatalities in Cuba, where the government prides itself on disaster preparedness and said it had carried out evacuations totalling more than one million people.

Authorities warned that the floodwaters could linger for more than a day, and there was as-yet uncalculated damage to sugarcane and banana fields in central Cuba and to northern cays studded with all-inclusive resorts, potentially dealing a major blow to the country’s key tourism industry.

The powerful storm ripped roofs off homes, collapsed buildings and caused floods along hundreds of miles of coastline after cutting a trail of destruction across the Caribbean. Irma has killed at least 24 people in the region, leaving officials scrambling to bring aid to shattered communities.

In Havana, home to some two million residents, central neighbourhoods along the coast between the Almendares River and Havana harbour suffered the brunt of the flooding, with seawater penetrating as much as one-third of a mile (a half-kilometre) inland in places.

Waves as high as 20 feet (6 metres) continued to pound Havana, with the spray topping the lighthouse at the Morro fortress on the entrance to the bay, and Civil Defence Col. Luis Angel Macareno warned that the flooding would persist into Monday.

Emergency workers and residents boated and waded through streets littered with all manner of debris: toppled trees, downed electrical lines, roofs torn off by the winds and cement water tanks that fell from atop homes to the ground.

Floodwaters entered the high-end Melia Cohiba and Riviera hotels, where the storm damaged the buildings, landscaping and roofing.

The waters and winds also damaged the seaside US Embassy, tossing around shipping containers that sit on the compound, smashing parts of its black perimeter fence, ripping exterior panels from the building and breaking windows and doors. The embassy’s flag was in tatters fluttering from its staff Sunday.

State television reported severe damage to hotels on the northern cays off Ciego de Avila and Camaguey provinces.

Witnesses said a provincial museum near the eye of the storm was in ruins, and authorities in the city of Santa Clara said 39 buildings collapsed.

Communist Party newspaper Granma reported that the Jardines del Rey airport serving the northern cays was “destroyed” and posted photos to Twitter showing the shattered terminal hall littered with debris.

In Caibarien, a small coastal city about 200 miles (320 kilometres) east of Havana where many residents stayed put to ride out the storm, winds downed power lines and neighbourhoods were under water.

Similar scenes played out across the Caribbean, where the storm devastated islands before setting its sights on Florida.