How does Cuba handle hurricanes? Anyone know?

[0rganism]

Seems to me, damn near EVERY hurricane that ends up in Florida passes over Cuba on the way. Sometimes it's on the edge, sometimes it's right down the center. I imagine there must be damage, maybe even catastrophic damage, but I never see it.

The newscasts always show the evacuations and preparations in Florida, and sometimes they report hurricane damage elsewhere in the Caribbean, but it's like Cuba doesn't exist. Cuba's treated like a big blank spot, where no one lives.

I understand that -- for some fucked up reason -- USians aren't permitted to go to Cuba, which probably puts the kabosh on a lot of reporting. Still, what's to prevent the networks from picking up a feed from the BBC to show us what's going on down there?

Will I be arrested for asking this question? ;)

edit: recent article about the effects of Hurricane Charley
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-abauza05sep05,0,284171.column?coll=sfla-news-cuba

edit: and another article about Charley -- it wiped out an entire village
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5830669/

[necso]

1. Cuba is poor.

They can't handle hurricanes too well.

And this might prove to be a good opportunity to open things up a little in relief aide... but little chance of that!

Politically (and publicly), Cuban-Americans typically take a very hard line with Cuba. And Florida being crucial, Rove and company also maintain a hard line.

As for your last, not until after the "election". ;)

[0rganism]

2. Hehe, check out the msnbc article re. international aid

Here's some excerpts from the last part about foreign aid:

Completing a preliminary study, the United Nations warned that power and water shortages could spark outbreaks of disease. As in past natural disasters, the local U.N. office is expected to ask member nations for donations, although it hasn’t released an independent monetary assessment of the damage.

Catholic Relief Services out of Baltimore, the official humanitarian arm of the U.S. Catholic community, is collecting blankets, medicines and mattresses for immediate aid and plans to rebuild homes with Caritas Cubana, their local partner.

Meanwhile, Cuban-American organizations are also amassing food and medicines in a south Florida warehouse to send to families in need.

Earlier this week the Cuban government rejected $50,000 in U.S. disaster aid as "totally unacceptable," calling the amount an "insult" to the hundreds of thousands of Cubans hit by the storm.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5830669/

Heh. When you're down $1,000,000,000 in disaster damage, $50,000 from the world's wealthiest nation is a bit of an insult. Still, they could have used it for something...

[necso]

3. I am a little surprised that they offered that much...

probably they knew that it would be turned down!

But I have nothing nice to say about Castro.

I do feel for the people though, being poor sucks even without hurricanes!

And I have seen pictures of what hurricanes can do to poor people. They can be left with nothing more than a patch of dirt -- no house, no crop, no nothing!

I mean, like, bummer, man! (Which well could be the first words out of my mouth.) This might have you feeling a lot less happy about being alive in no time. Poor Cuba -- poor everybody effected by these awful storms.

But at least the Jamaicans have some solace. Time for some Bob Marley!

[Swamp Rat]

4. Warning! You have said the word "Cuba" 3+ times. Red Alert!

You have been identified. Report to the nearest Reprogramming Complex.

[Bridget Burke]

5. "Here, people know what they have to do."

Ran a quick check & found a story about an ancient village destroyed by Hurricane Charley. Lots of interesting stuff, but this part deals with the government's reaction:

The losses -- houses, mattresses, home appliances -- have been inventoried, and belongings will be replaced by Cuba's socialist government. The estimate of the damages is still pending.

A special government committee has already been set up, "and the funds and resources have been assigned to completely rebuild the village," Julio Días, the head of the local "defence council", which operates in times of disaster, told IPS.

The government proposed moving the village to a safer spot, but most of the local residents are opposed to the idea. "They will rebuild their houses on the foundations of their old homes. They're picking up the rubble now," said Días.

www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=25173

And a story about the International Red Cross requesting help after 2 hurricanes struck Cuba in 1992:

Cristina Estrada, a regional spokeswoman for the Red Cross, told BBC News Online that only the country's prompt and well-organised evacuation procedures ensured no-one was killed.....

"In any other country in the region it would have been a disaster in terms of loss of life," she said.....

While emphasising there was still a lot to do, Ms Estrada also had praise for the Cuban Government's efficient clean-up process. When she visited Pinar del Rio just a few days after the hurricanes, felled trees had already been removed from the roads and much of the rubble had been cleared away.

Cuba's preventative measures almost certainly saved lives. "Here people know what they have to do," she said.

"There is 24 hour information on television which tells you the latest news of the hurricane, and which shelters to go to.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2313085.stm

[0007]

6. Is Cuba is like Captain Bligh?

"I ask for no quarter and I give NO quarter"