Havana / Madrid /Santiago de Cuba and Granma are still waiting. After Civil Defense declared this thursday the recovery phase for Las Tunas, Holguín and Guantánamo because they do not present “a complex hydrological situation”, the situation of the remaining two remains to be resolved, which is very delicate especially in the eastern capital, where Hurricane Melissa entered with force on Wednesday.
During the visit of Miguel Díaz-Canel This Thursday in the area, the damage assessment was accompanied by satisfaction with the absence of victims – although the rumors about a deceased in Palma Soriano – and the joy because eleven children were born in the province during the passage of the meteor. “The municipalities and provinces acted very well, and the people also cooperated,” he said.
It did not happen in all cases. Osmel Guerra, a resident of Playa Francés, in Guamá, refused to leave his house until the last second. The EFE agency tells it, which was able to reach the area and has interviewed several people who, like him, decided to stay in their homes for fear that “someone” would steal their belongings. “Things are bad. There is no recourse, there is nothing else. Before they put you in a car, they took you to a place and they gave you breakfast…” said Guerra, a fisherman by profession.
But Melissa’s strength ended up overthrowing her stubbornness. And his house. Guerra, 53, took to the mountains with his family when the wind became unbearable, hid in a cave and waited for the worst to happen. When he returned, his home was gone.
Guerra, 53, took to the mountains with his family when the wind became unbearable, hid in a cave and waited for the worst to happen. When he returned, his home was gone.
If he had electricity or internet, the fisherman would know that last night the Ministry of Finance and Prices promised a 50% bonus on construction materials for those who suffered partial or total damage to their homes, as well as coverage of interest and commissions on bank loans for this purpose. Probably, if he had heard it, he would have been upset or even laughed sarcastically.
Since 2012, he has been waiting for the materials they secured to rebuild the roof, which fell after Sandy. The same situation is experienced by Saraí Villafañe, 47 years old – who showed EFE the inside of the caves, whose nooks they turned into improvised “rooms” – and dozens of neighbors, who have been left without hope to recover their homes and with the desperation of not being able to communicate with their neighbors.
“The water did whatever it wanted. You can record a horror movie with all this,” another resident, Reinaldo Montoya, told the Spanish agency, who said that the disconnection with the world was such during the hurricane that he found out from the press that it had entered his town.
Santiago de Cuba cannot get the shock out of its body. The satisfaction of the authorities in their journey collides with the fear of what may have happened in the most affected municipalities, although little by little they are accessing more areas and rescuing more people.
This Thursday’s round table was once again dedicated to the damage assessment, which is still underway. The hurricane is already very far away in meteorological terms, although the aftermath may last. There will be rain at least for the next 24 or 48 hours, and it is not expected to be significant, although the land is already very saturated.
“The water falls, it cannot infiltrate, the soil becomes saturated almost immediately and the surplus drains away,” he lamented.
The director of Hydrological Services of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources said that the intensity of the rains – greater than 200 mm in two hours in some areas – cannot be supported by any terrain. “The water falls, it cannot infiltrate, the soil becomes saturated almost immediately and the surplus drains,” he lamented.
As already mentioned on Wednesday, the positive part is the filling of the reservoirs, which had a huge deficit to date due to the great drought. The country’s total volume amounts to 6,015,000,000 cubic meters, 66% of the total capacity, although if analyzed separately, Santiago is almost full compared to Sancti Spíritus, which needs about 500 million cubic meters to guarantee supply. Currently, 76 reservoirs in the country are filled to more than 95% of their capacity. Of this group, 61 are completely full and 50 are in a spill situation.
The bitter side of these impressive data is the potential danger it represents for Granma and Santiago, with saturated soils. Hence the alert is maintained.
Other officials participated in the program, such as the Minister of Transportation, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, Minister of Transportation, who pointed out that the transfer of evacuees, recovery teams (brigades) from all sectors and loads (for the basket) are already being coordinated. Buses from the west to Camagüey, Las Tunas and Holguín are gradually being restored, although there are damaged tracks. Not so the railway, which remains paralyzed, while ports and airports, without major effects, resume their operations.
Not so good news was brought by Juan Carlos García Granda, head of Tourism, who announced the suspension of the first flight of the high season from Moscow. Without knowing, as October ends, the number of international travelers for September, the prospects are increasingly dire. “We are on the verge of the high season and we already have requests from Canada to resume flights,” he said, despite everything.
Not so good news was brought by Juan Carlos García Granda, head of Tourism, who announced the suspension of the first flight of the high season from Moscow
In addition, Yamilín González Milián, First Deputy Minister of Industry, also reported on the situation, explaining the sectors that have been prioritized, especially chemicals for water purification and medicinal oxygen. The damage, he maintained, has not been very great, since the fall of the light covers was the most common and this does not prevent work from continuing.
Finally, the vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Déborah Rivas Saavedra, also spoke, and made an inventory of all the international aid that is being received. The great absence of the program, despite the great debate unleashed on networks, is in the management of the aid announced by the US. The official press has published a brief note in which it insists that it is waiting for information from Washington to know how it intends to coordinate this shipment.
“At the close of this edition it is not known if, beyond public statements, there has been any official communication from the US Government offering help, such as that which has come from various countries, without politicking and with full respect for Cuba and our victims,” he says. Granma.
