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• Caribbean
• culture an traditions
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• 09 / 14 / 2008

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Some Cuban zones are still suffering the effects of Hurricane Ike, which was particularly severe in Pinar del Rio province and the Isle of Youth special municipality.

The intense rains and runoff from mountains left low zones flooded, with some areas likely to remain like that during the coming days.

Until Thursday, 87 reservoirs were spilling over, especially those in Santiago de Cuba province (10 out of 11 reservoirs) ; Granma (9 out of 10), and Villa Clara (7 out of 12).

According to the National Guard, over 2,000 organs were activated to activate about 1,500 food processing centers and nearly 2,200 shelters, of which over 1,200 were schools.

More than 2,800 members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces were mobilized for the protection of the population, while over 9,500 transportation means were used, along with 1,400 units of machinery, and nearly 4,500 means of communication.

Those measures allowed for the protection of over 2.70 million people, of whom 2.15 million were given shelter by friends or relatives.

In a fast, organized way, about 170,000 students from boarding schools were returned to their homes, and 6,900 campers and 2,800 foreign tourists taken to safe places.

According to preliminary figures, Ike affected over 200,000 houses, mainly in the provinces of Holguin, Las Tunas, Camaguey, Villa Clara, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Pinar del Rio, and the Isle of Youth special municipality.

Along with the devastating effects of Hurricane Gustav and Fay tropical storm, the total number of houses damaged amounts to 500,000, likely to increase in coming days.

Health and education sectors, along with the water, electricity, and communications services have reported damage as well.

Though there are still provinces such as Las Tunas, Camaguey, and Holguin with only 30 percent of the electrical system recovered, the rest of the country has been witnessing a significant change over the last 48 hours.

In agriculture, the main affectations have been reported in poultry farming, in banana, coffee, manioc, and corn crops, and covered growing houses.

As part of this recovery phase, all Cuban sectors are involved in recovery tasks, based on the assessments made in each area, while the necessary measures are being adopted to re-establish the basic services for the population.

(PL)