Still reeling from the damage caused by Hurricane Gustav, Cubans have been dealt a second severe blow by Hurricane
Ike. CARE is intensifying the call for funds to aid beleaguered Cubans. Ike hast left a wide track of destruction from the eastern end of the country where it first hit
on Sunday evening, to the most western province of Pinar del Rio which had to postpone rehabilitation efforts which had been undertaken after the devastation left by Hurricane Gustav 10 days ago.
Damage has been caused by a combination of strong winds, severe rainfall, and storm surges along both the northern and southern shores of the Island of Cuba. Over 1.2 million people were
evacuated across the island, or 10 per cent of its total population.
Tens of thousands of homes have been significantly affected by Ike, adding a serious stress on the country’s
capacity after the more than 110,000 homes destroyed or severely damaged by Gustav.
Full assessment of the damage is not yet possible as telephone communication infrastructure through the
affected regions has been significantly affected. However it is already known that the main damage is concentrated in agriculture, power and telephone systems, homes and economic and social
installations. As a result of the large track of the storm, virtually all agricultural activity on the Island has been impacted in varying degrees.
Mountainous crops such as coffee and
cocoa in the Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba and Granma provinces have been affected by the severe rains. Fruits fields, sugarcane, and all urban and periurban agriculture (the source of most fresh
fruits and vegetables consumed in the country) have fallen victim to the force of the storm. "We are very likely looking at tens of thousands of people without a roof over their heads, and
the very real possibility of shortages of essential food staples," said Caroline Poussart, Director of CARE in Cuba.
Ends -
Media Contacts, Deborah Underdown, Assistant
Communication Assistant (London), tel: 020 7934 9417 e-mail: underdown@careinternational.org
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Relatives mourn as they look at a body recovered from the site of a rain-triggered mudslide in Xiangfen county, Shanxi county, Shanxi province September 12, 2008. Beijing has now ordered urgent ...
