It dawns in a devastated Pinar del Río after the passage of Ian, the hurricane that hit western Cuba yesterday with category 3 and winds exceeding 200 kilometers per hour. Balance is hard. The authorities have confirmed the death of at least two people in that province, a woman due to the collapse of the wall of her house in San Luis and a man when the roof of another building in which more people were found fell.
100% of the clients connected to the electricity and telephone network lack service and the authorities warn: “The restoration may take about a week, although it cannot yet be precisely specified.”
Added to the lack of communication is the damage to homes, which has not yet been quantified but is pointed out as another of the great problems. The message from the authorities speaks for itself: “Given the strong effects on housing, mobilizations of people called by mass and youth organizations will be promoted,” they stated at the Provincial Defense Council, which included Deputy Prime Minister Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca and a representative of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Félix Duarte Ortega.
Linemen from Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus and Villa Clara should arrive this Wednesday to start recovery tasks, as confirmed by the Minister of Energy and Mines
The economy, limping as in the whole Island after two years without respite, will suffer another coup de grace. There are 5,000 tobacco houses damaged and a blow to the tobacco industry is expected, the main one in the area and with a notable weight in exports and foreign exchange earnings. The agricultural industry, also key for the country at a time of galloping shortages, is among those that have suffered the greatest damage, according to the authorities, who point to schools as another weak point that will have priority.
Linemen from Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus and Villa Clara should arrive this Wednesday to start the recovery tasks, as confirmed by the Minister of Energy and Mines, Liván Arronte, in the Cuban Television special this midnight. Later, others from Santiago de Cuba and Granma will join, although it is foreseeable that these brigades will be necessary not only in Pinar del Río, since the general blackout will affect the entire western part of the island, which adds to the collapse of the system the damage to lines, so reinforcements are needed in several provinces.
The authorities gave their instructions, which urge, above all, volunteerism and voluntarism. The help of social workers was requested, to involve the neighborhoods, the mass and youth organizations. Meanwhile, on their side, they assure, they will run to set up an evacuation commission to “support those who have lost their homes” and guarantee the reopening of health services as soon as possible.
“It is vital that we go to a recovery that involves everyone,” the Defense Council concluded in its note. The tone is in line with what is expected to come from the authorities, who continue without giving the most requested information at this time on social networks. How is La Coloma? The population of Pinar del Río where the hurricane made landfall is extremely isolated and there is no news of how it has been after Iana’s fury, to the despair of relatives abroad.
The official press carries several notes on its front page with headlines that call for strength in the face of adversity and the spirit of combat. “A cyclone of adversity”, “Put your chest up and go above adversity”, “Message from young people in times of solidarity”… although the most striking is in Granmawhich publishes a column dedicated to the anniversary of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), which traditionally celebrate their day on September 28.
“He got entangled in the eye of the most powerful hurricane of solidarity that can be known in these latitudes. To make matters worse, Ian got the math wrong, because today is September 28, and that is the same as saying neighborhood, town, Revolution. It is the day of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, capable of mobilizing a country,” argues the text, which literally says that San Juan y Martínez, the main tobacco municipality, “was razed to the ground.”
“But the cederistas, that is, the working people, will change the celebrations for the work that will restore beauty and joy to Cuba”
“But the cederistas, that is, the working people, will change the celebrations for the work that will return beauty and joy to Cuba,” he continues, ending with: “This is hard, but we are going to be handsome and we are going to get ahead.” “.
Artemisa, another of the most affected territories, has a balance of damage more closed than Pinar del Río, although it is still preliminary. The Provincial Defense Council has counted hundreds of damaged homes, many of them on their roofs, but also wall collapses. These problems extend to a multitude of state entities, warehouses, offices or health centers, in addition to countless fallen poles.
The worst, for the health sector, has been the damage to the windows of the hemodialysis room at the Ciro Redondo García hospital and the blanket on the ceiling of the Maternal Home, which was literally lifted. The July 26 sports facility has two fallen towers, part of the stadium’s stands, and fallen roofs.
But the economy, and with it food, has also been hit. 1,800 hectares of bananas have been destroyed, 60% of them in Alquízar, which also loses tomato and cabbage seedlings (more than 2,000 seedlings), as well as tobacco in an undetermined amount.
In addition, in Guanímar at least 168 people had to be evacuated due to flooding, when they entered 5 km of sea.
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