NO nation in the world that can stand up to nature when it is unleashed in all its fury. That is what happened in Cuba, and almost the entire country suffered the worst devastation in the island’s hurricane history. Three meteorological phenomena in a row, two of them powerful hurricanes, seemed to lay siege to the island. First Gustav, which entered as a Category 4, and eight days later, as everybody was concentrating on recovering from the damage left in its wake, the enormous Ike appeared, lashing the rest of the country and doubly affecting areas previously hit by Gustav.
The combination of wind, rain and flooding hit with unusual force, ripping off roofs, water tanks and other structures; overturning transport; sending boats into the air; felling trees and electric and telephone cables and posts; damaging thousands of kilometers of highway and roads throughout the country, and destroying the roofs, walls and floors of the homes of hundreds of thousands of families.
To a greater or lesser extent, all of the country’s 169 municipalities suffered the consequences of an atrocious blow and the island’s economic, social and housing infrastructure was devastated as never before.
PRESERVING LIFE ABOVE ALL-As is known, Cuba is located in the path of tropical storms that, in many cases, turn into powerful hurricanes. For that reason, the country’s Civil Defense System, the institution responsible for protecting the population in face of these events, has worked for more than 40 years, accumulating experience, correcting errors and organizing in detail plans for ensuring that the population is safe and their belongings protected. The priority is to safeguard human lives.
Statistics show how, thanks to the coordinated actions at every level of the institution when needed, Cuba’s disaster preparation is recognized internationally by the pertinent agencies.
Therefore, all Cubans know how to protect themselves: where to go and what to take with them. That is why the number of reported deaths resulting from these phenomena is very low compared to figures in other countries, including those with more resources. This last time, more than three million people were evacuated from their homes, but only half a million of them had to be sheltered in state-run evacuation centers. The rest were sheltered by their families and neighbors. While there were no human lives lost in the first hurricane, seven people died in the second one.
According to a government report, the worst consequences of Gustav and Ike were in the housing sector: more than 444,000 homes were damaged, a good number of them with their roofs partially or totally destroyed. Of that total, 63,249 homes collapsed completely. The housing problem could be described as the most complex, the report said, not only because more than 200,000 people have been left without homes for some time, and hundreds of thousands more have damaged homes, but because building and repairing involves financial investment and resources in the millions, and obligatorily, years of intensive work.
In addition, thousands of tons of stored food were affected. Electricity services were damaged throughout almost the entire country. In some places, like the special municipality of the Isle of Youth, the first hurricane affected 100% of power lines.
Serious damage also was wreaked on facilities for public health, education, culture and sports. More than 2,000 schools, childcare centers and other educational facilities were damaged, along with 146 cultural institutions and 82 sports institutions. Nevertheless, classes gradually went back into session and healthcare services for the population were not interrupted.
In agriculture, thousands of hectares of diverse crops, mostly tubers and sugar cane, were destroyed by flooding or hurricane-force winds. Greenhouses and semi-protected crops were damaged, as were thousands of tobacco-curing houses, tobacco, forest farms and all the coffee-growing areas in eastern Cuba. More than half a million chickens were lost. Production was shut down at all factories for different reasons.
IMMEDIATELY, RECUPERATION-However, Cuba has been accustomed to facing tremendous difficulties for almost 50 years. Nobody stopped to lament, and recuperation work began as quickly as the disaster had struck. Specialized brigades were organized, who went from the least-affected areas to the most affected ones. The government began sending material resources from its reserves to the areas affected, and decided to prioritize food production, housing and restoration of electric power, the factors that most affect people’s lives.
Long lines of vehicles could be seen on the nation’s roads transporting food and resources to the hurricane victims. The country’s armed forces were placed at the service of recuperation work; soldiers could be found everywhere, cutting down trees, gathering coffee beans dashed to the ground by the winds, building bridges where water blocked roads, clearing debris, or involved in dangerous rescue operations.
Since the triumph of the Revolution in 1959, electric power has been gradually provided to 98% of national territory. Some 80,000 homes and workplaces in mostly remote or small settlements — affecting some 250,000 people — were still without electricity, given the extent of the damage wreaked by the storms. By the last week of September, another 250,000 people had had their electricity restored via the use of generators. These generators are not supposed to be used continuously for long periods of time, but were used in this case to help make up for damages to the national power grid and to facilitate normal restoration of electric power to the population.
A total of 100 generators were operating in communities, involving a high additional cost in fuel. At this time, electricity is being guaranteed for 966 bakeries, 207 food processing centers, 372 radio stations, 193 hospitals, 496 polyclinics, 635 water-pumping stations, 138 senior citizens’ homes and other facilities.
THE SEED OF SOLIDARITY IS GROWING-Many friends, agencies, institutions and governments in countries all over the world, large and small, rich and poor, have reached out to Cuba. That solidarity is palpable from nations with poor economies who have not hesitated to send aid, but Cuba is aware that the essential effort needs to come from its own people.
Starting over is the main result of nature’s impact on the island. Almost the entire country was devastated, as if a war with powerful, modern weapons had taken place. That means that we must work even harder on our economic development projects and on ongoing improvements to the system, which will suffer obligatory setbacks, but will not be abandoned.
Cuban people are still the same, fighters and optimists, and their human values have grown during these difficult times; they will not abandon their course, in which they have the leading role.