Ecobreves – CUBA: Poor Waste Management Worsens Hurricane Impacts

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HAVANA, Nov 24 2008 (IPS) - An evaluation of the impact of hurricanes in Cuba has revealed that disaster risk increases because of factors like construction along the coastline, poor waste management and cutting down mangrove forests. The study by technicians from the Environment Agency began two years ago, but is now concentrated on the “crossed impacts” of hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which hit Cuba between Aug. 30 and Sep. 9, Orlando Rey, of the Science, Technology and Environment Ministry, told Tierramérica.

The report reflects that the accumulation of waste is the problem that most contributes to flooding, which is increasingly frequent during the rainy and hurricane seasons.

Gustav caused losses valued at more than 2 billion dollars and Ike cost nearly 7.3 billion dollars, according t o official figures.