CUBA: The High Cost of Hurricanes

By Patricia Grogg Reprint | | Print |

Patricia Grogg

HAVANA, Jun 22 2005 (IPS) - Every year as hurricane season approaches, Cuba gears up its internationally recognised disaster prevention system, which succeeds in keeping human losses to a minimum, yet can do little to prevent the material damage wrought by these often devastating storms.

Over the last decade, hurricanes have cost this Caribbean island nation an estimated 4.5 billion dollars in losses, according to figures from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The damage caused by the passage of Hurricane Michelle in November 2001 alone was calculated at close to one billion dollars.

Razed crops, uprooted trees, houses left in ruins, flooded streets and cuts in basic services like electrical power and water, sometimes lasting days, form part of the bleak aftermath once the storm has passed and it is time to appraise the damages.

The poor physical condition of many homes makes it necessary to evacuate thousands of families who could otherwise be killed by crumbling buildings. "I would say that’s the most serious problem we face. Look at those balconies, they could collapse any day," remarked Havana resident Juana Hernández.

The 65-year-old pensioner is the chairwoman of the residents committee for her apartment building. Built in 1953, it is far from the most dilapidated in the neighbourhood, but is already showing the signs of wear that could make it uninhabitable within just a few short years.

A report prepared in 2004 by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and Cuba’s National Institute of Economic Research (INIE) noted that the poor state of housing continues to be one of the elements that makes the country most vulnerable to hurricanes.

The main factors contributing to this vulnerability are the location of numerous settlements in exposed areas, especially along the coast, and the deteriorated condition of many houses and buildings, the study added.

The total number of housing units classified as uninhabitable or of extremely low quality – and therefore the most threatened by the impact of hurricanes – was estimated at roughly 162,000 in late 2001.

This figure represents close to five percent of the country’s housing stock, and 32 percent of the homes deemed in poor repair. In the meantime, the National Housing Institute reports a shortage of around 530,000 dwellings in this country of 11.2 million.

"Hurricane Ivan really gave us a good scare. We were among the people who might have had to be evacuated, but since it didn’t come through Havana in the end, as we had feared, we were able to stay in our own apartments," recalled Hernández, who lives two blocks from the waterfront in the Cuban capital.

After wreaking unprecedented destruction in the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada last September, Ivan appeared to be headed straight for Havana, which was spared at the last minute. Instead, the storm swept through the country’s westernmost tip, completely destroying 935 homes and damaging another 22,510.

Western Cuba had been battered just one month earlier, on Aug. 13, by Hurricane Charley, which completely destroyed 4,425 homes and damaged 76,821. The total cost of the damages caused by the two storms was officially calculated at just over one billion dollars.

Yet despite the devastating force of these two hurricanes, only three people were killed and another six injured in Cuba.

This minimal number of human losses owes to the efficiency of the country’s disaster prevention system, notes the UNDP, and differentiates Cuba from other nations in the region, where factors like extreme poverty and environmental degradation heighten the vulnerability of the population.

Hurricane Mitch, which struck Central America in 1998, left 7,000 dead and 12,000 wounded in Honduras, while another 600,000 people were either directly or indirectly affected by the storm. The death toll in Nicaragua was 3,000.

Protecting the Cuban population and economy in the event of natural disasters is the responsibility of the Civil Defence organisation, a branch of the Ministry of Armed Forces, which activates its disaster prevention system at the first sign of the formation of a tropical storm in the Atlantic.

The system comprises four stages – storm watch, warning, emergency and recovery – with various measures established for each.

"During the first stage, the population is instructed to stay alert to the reports issued by the Meteorology Institute. In order to implement the different measures, including evacuations when there is a danger of homes being destroyed, Civil Defence depends on the support of the mass organisations," noted Hernández.

On Jul. 2 and 3, the Civil Defence authorities will be holding the annual drill organised every hurricane season – which runs from June to November – to ensure that both the specialised forces involved in this area and the general public are adequately prepared in the event of a natural disaster, said the Civil Defence national operations chief, Lieutenant Colonel Miguel A. Puig.

The participants in the drill exercises include members of the armed forces and Ministry of the Interior, as well as representatives of the socialist island’s numerous mass organisations.

At a conference for national authorities on risk management policies, systems and experiences in the Caribbean, held earlier this month in Havana, particular emphasis was placed on the need for capacity building to confront natural disasters in the region.

During the meeting, Jan Egeland, the U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and emergency relief coordinator, praised the disaster prevention system developed by Cuba and said it was a model that could be followed by other nations in the area.

This hurricane season, Cuban meteorologists are predicting the formation of 13 hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean. According to their forecasts, seven will develop into high intensity hurricanes, and one could hit Cuba.

Between 1970 and 2001, natural disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean left a death toll of 246,569, affected a total of 144 million people to varying degrees, and resulted in material losses estimated at close to 68.6 billion dollars, according to figures from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).