Cuba has an excellent preparedness plan for hurricanes. Not a single Cuban life was lost to Hurricane Wilma. Americans would benefit from adopting similar measures for disaster preparedness. Don't wait for the government to help--why not start preparedness in our own neighborhoods!

Posted on Wed, Oct. 26, 2005

Wilma floods Havana but kills none

VANESSA ARRINGTON

Associated Press

HAVANA - Dozens of city blocks in the Cuban capital were immersed in sea water after Hurricane Wilma swept past the island en route to Florida - but not a single death was reported.

Around the Caribbean, Wilma was blamed for at least 22 deaths - five in Florida, 12 in Haiti, at least four in Mexico and one in Jamaica.

Part of the country's good fortune could be because Wilma never made landfall here, but many also credit the fact people in Fidel Castro's Cuba are instructed from an early age how to move quickly during a natural disaster.

The United Nations and other international organizations have long praised Cuba's track record in preserving lives during hurricanes that regularly batter the island. When a tropical storm starts brewing in the Caribbean, a well-oiled hurricane-response machine clicks on in Cuba.

First, there's the informative phase, in which the island's state-run media begins broadcasting frequent announcements about the storm's movement. Jose Rubiera, head of Cuba's National Meteorology Institute, starts making television appearances, contributing to his near-celebrity status on the island.

If asked on the street, most Cubans can recite the storm's latest coordinates and projected route. Because there is no MTV or HBO on state-sanctioned television programming, most people are watching the government's constant storm coverage.

Next comes the alert phase, informing Cubans that a hurricane hit is probable and to prepare for possible evacuation. Shortly thereafter comes the third phase - alarm - and evacuations begin.

The evacuations - which are mandatory and rarely defied - are a regular part of life for Cubans, especially those living in coastal areas prone to flooding. In the days before Wilma passed Cuba, about 700,000 people were evacuated in this country of about 11.2 million.

All the state's resources are mobilized, focused on the same goal: to ensure that no one dies.

Vehicles are rounded up to provide transport for people in danger areas, and schools and other government buildings are converted into temporary shelters.

Citizens serving on civil defense committees - organized by community, by neighborhood, even by block - also go into high gear, ensuring that each shelter is properly stocked with food, water, blankets and other supplies.

Civil defense workers go from house to house in their neighborhoods, ensuring that everyone gets out in time. They are helped by leaders of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, an ideological neighborhood watch group that keeps tabs on every person on every block in Cuba.

By the time the storm hits, the streets are empty, with residents tucked away in locations believed to be safe from whipping winds and drenching rains.

Cubans regularly also open their doors to neighbors, relatives and friends. During Hurricane Wilma, officials reported that about 80 percent of those evacuated stayed in other people's homes rather than government shelters.

"Everyone helps each other here," Dayami Gonzalez said Tuesday while cleaning up her Havana home after floodwaters that had reached more than 3 feet inside began receding. "In the United States it seems like there's more egoism, where everyone just worries about themselves."

Giraldo Garcia, 64 and retired, blamed the U.S. government for the more than 1,000 Katrina-related deaths in New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast.

"It's like those in power don't think about anything but war," Garcia said. "It was so painful to see innocent people whose lives could have been saved.

Garcia praised his own country's system, particularly the response to the massive flooding in the capital, which submerged the coastal Malecon highway and several blocks inland after massive waves from Hurricane Wilma battered the island's northern coast.

Military amphibious vehicles and rescue squads evacuated nearly 250 residents from homes throughout Havana after the waves hit Monday. Government workers in huge trucks distributed meals of crackers, hot dogs and drinks to those still stuck without running water and electricity Tuesday.

"If there's any risk to human lives, I know that the government won't leave us to lady luck," Garcia said.

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