Havana's crumbling buildings collapse

Many of the crumbling colonial era buildings in Cuba were unable to withstand the 100km/h winds that accompanied Hurricane Irma on the weekend.

Hurricane Irma killed at least 10 people in Cuba, with Havana flooded with chest-high water. (AAP)

The historic but often decrepit buildings of Havana and other colonial Cuban cities couldn't stand up to Hurricane Irma's winds and rainfall, collapsing and killing seven people in one of the highest death tolls from the storm's passage through the Caribbean.

Three more people were killed by falling objects or drowning, pushing the death toll to 10 in Cuba and at least 24 others in the region. It was Cuba's worst hurricane death toll since 16 died in Hurricane Dennis in 2005.

Most of Cuba's grand old buildings were confiscated from the wealthy and distributed to the poor and middle classes after a 1959 revolution that promised housing, health care and education as universal rights. But with state salaries of about $US25 a month and government agencies strapped for cash, most buildings have seen little maintenance in decades.

Tropical rain and sea spray have chewed into unpainted facades and seeped through unpatched roofs. Trees have sprouted from balconies. Iron rebar has rusted, sloughing off chunks of powdery concrete.

In every neighbourhood, residents talk warily about the buildings that are one hurricane away from total collapse.

That hurricane came Saturday and Sunday as Irma ground up the northern coast, sending chest-high seawater six blocks into Central Havana and blasting the city with 100km/h winds.