HAVANA, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Tropical storm Noel has caused heavy losses in many Cuban provinces, the Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth) newspaper said Tuesday.

    More than 40,000 people are living in emergency shelters in the Cuban province of Granma as a result of the torrential rain that came with the storm.

    In the worst-hit town of Rio Cauto, 20,400 residents, or 40 percent of the population, have been evacuated to the cities of Bayamo and Manzanillo after the Cauto, the largest river in the country, burst its banks.

    In neighboring Santiago, some 4,000-km of roads have been damaged, while in the eastern-most Cuban province, Guantanamo, 7,000 people have been evacuated.

    In the northeastern province of Holguin, 1,000 homes, seven bridges and several highways have been damaged and 21,000 people have been evacuated.

    In Las Tunas, 22 bridges, 187-km of paved roads and more than 2,300-km of embankments were damaged. Some 137 of the nation's 239 rivers have burst their banks.

    Authorities in the nation's five eastern provinces are taking strong measures to reduce the damage while the storm is expected to continue in these areas but with less rainfall.