Yahoo! News
November 7, 2001.
Louisiana Troops Headed For Cuba
WDSU TheNewOrleansChannel.com. Wednesday November 07..
Additional Louisiana troops are on their way to help fight in the war
against terrorism.
108 soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment left Barksdale Air
Force Base for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Tuesday morning.
The soldiers will provide security at the U.S. Naval Station, where they
will replace a special anti-terrorism unit. The troops will be gone for up to
one year, military officials say.
Cuba Faces Recovery Challenge
By Vivian Sequera, Associated Press Writer.
HAVANA, 6 (AP) - Cuba - its economy already battered by a drop in tourism -
began adding up the damages Tuesday from Hurricane Michelle, which killed at
least five people, flooded crops, destroyed at least 2,000 homes and crippled
the island's infrastructure.
Although the communist government had not yet offered a comprehensive report
on damages, early indications were that significant damage was caused to some
crops and to the island's electrical and telecommunications systems.
Agricultural damage was particularly severe in the central province of
Matanzas, where 99,000 tons of oranges were lost in the storm, the Communist
Party daily Granma said Tuesday.
Seed beds for nurturing the tobacco plants used to make Cuba's famed cigars
were wiped out by the storm, said Granma. The province's crop of plantains, a
staple food in this Caribbean nation, was also devastated, the newspaper said.
Cuba's National Defense confirmed five deaths nationwide. Four people were
killed in separate building collapses in Havana and Matanzas province to the
east. One man drowned in Playa Larga on the coast in Matanzas, where Michelle
made landfall.
Civil defense officials said at least 10,000 homes had been damaged in
Matanzas province, of which 2,000 were destroyed.
Damage to telephone lines and microwave antennae that provide long distance
service snarled communications Tuesday between Havana and outlying regions. As a
result, conditions in some parts of the island were unknown, making it hard even
for the government to assess damage.
Electricity on Tuesday was gradually being restored throughout Havana and
Pinar del Rio province, with priority given to hospitals and other vital
services. Power to other affected areas was expected to be restored within the
next few days.
The entire western half of the country was blacked out two nights following
Michelle's landfall Sunday afternoon. Power was shut down by the government as a
precaution when the hurricane struck.
The Basic Industry Ministry, which administers the island's electrical
infrastructure, said the hurricane caused "the worst damages in history to
the country's electrical transmission.''
The hurricane, which killed 12 people in Honduras, Nicaragua and Jamaica
last week, lost some strength as it moved off Cuba, and it left Florida
virtually untouched. Authorities had ordered the Florida Keys evacuated.
When the storm made landfall on Cuba's southern coast, its winds were
estimated at 130 mph. After sweeping past the Bahamas capital of Nassau -
flooding houses and cutting power - the weakening storm was about 330 miles
south-southwest of Bermuda at 1 p.m. EST Tuesday.
President Fidel Castro (news - web sites), touring hard-hit regions of Cuba
on Monday, said Michelle had chosen "a friendlier'' path across the island
than authorities had feared, steering east of the capital of Havana, home to 2
million of Cuba's 11 million citizens.
"The damages were less than expected,'' Castro added. "Nature
could have behaved more badly.''
Still, Castro reiterated fears the storm damaged key crops including coffee,
citrus and sugar. "We have to reconstruct,'' he said, "and see where
the expenses are.''
The storm struck two days after Castro acknowledged Cuba faced serious
economic problems because of lower world prices for nickel and sugar - two key
exports - and a drop in tourism following the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the
United States.
There were no reports of deaths in the Bahamas, but Michelle's winds ripped
roofs off several wooden houses and tore down traffic lights. At Nassau
International Airport, some small planes were tossed across the tarmac.
Before moving to the Bahamas, the hurricane's outer winds brushed Florida,
where a tropical storm warning was lifted Monday afternoon for the Atlantic
coast from the Upper Keys to the West Palm Beach area.
Thousands of Cuban Homes Destroyed
By Anita Snow, Associated Press Writer
HAVANA, 6 (AP) - Hurricane Michelle destroyed at least 2,000 homes and
damaged another 8,000 in central Cuba, officials said Tuesday as they began
totaling the damage from the weekend storm that killed five people nationwide.
Half of Cuba was blacked out for a second night, and millions of residents
remained without power, gas or water. The government was working to rebuild the
telecommunications network.
Civil defense officials said the first tallies of destroyed homes came from
Matanzas province, which was worst hit by Sunday's storm.
"We were rebuilding the house,'' Jose Ramon Pedrozo said quietly as he
tried to rescue a few wooden planks that once formed part of his modest home in
Solis Viejo, a small town in Matanzas. "Now we're going to start all
over.''
The hurricane, which killed 12 people in Honduras, Nicaragua and Jamaica
last week, lost some strength as it moved off Cuba, and it left Florida
virtually untouched. Authorities had ordered the Florida Keys evacuated.
Michelle swept past the Bahamas capital of Nassau on Monday with 85 mph
winds, flooding houses and cutting power. At 10 a.m. EST, the storm was centered
about 400 miles southwest of Bermuda and was barely a hurricane with winds of 74
mph.
In Cuba, damages to telephone lines and microwave antennae that provide
national long-distance service snarled communications between Havana and
outlying regions.
Outgoing international telephone service was restored before dawn Monday,
but callers outside the country reported they were unable to call loved ones on
the island.
"I'm very worried because we don't know what happened to them,'' Isabel
Nunez, 55, of Elizabeth, N.J., said of her relatives in Cuba.
Although the power was shut off to prevent accidents during the storm, the
government said extensive repairs must be made before it can be safely restored.
When the storm made landfall on Cuba's southern coast, its winds were
estimated at 130 mph. Michelle caused at least 23 homes to collapse in Havana,
on the northern shore, state television reported - and more were expected to
crumble as they dried out in the sun.
The narrow streets in Solis Viejo and other towns in the central Cuban
region were littered with palm branches and tiles blown off buildings. Downed
utility poles lay scattered in parks and front yards.
Officials evacuated about 750,000 people before the storm. Cuba's population
is 11 million, with 2 million in Havana.
Conditions in many parts of Cuba were unknown because of the communications
problems, making it difficult even for the government to assess the damage.
Cuba's National Defense said four people were killed in separate building
collapses in Havana and Matanzas province. One man drowned in Playa Larga on the
coast in Matanzas, where Michelle made landfall.
President Fidel Castro toured several affected regions Monday and stopped at
the home of Elian Gonzalez, the boy at the center of a highly politicized child
custody battle last year involving the United States.
Castro greeted the Gonzalez family at their home in Cardenas, in Matanzas
province. Like many other Cuban homes, it was without electricity and other
basic services.
As he toured other parts of Matanzas province and Villa Clara province to
the east, Castro reiterated fears that the storm had damaged key crops including
coffee plants, citrus trees and sugarcane.
In the Bahamas, the hurricane unleashed stinging winds and sheets of rain on
Monday, ripping roofs off several wooden houses and tearing down traffic lights.
Government offices, banks and public schools remained closed for a second
day Tuesday. Emergency crews were working to restore power and telephone service
in areas where the hurricane brought down power lines.
The radio tower of the station MORE FM was snapped in half by the winds, and
several other broadcasters were out of commission.
Nassau International Airport remained closed, pending inspection of the
runway and the assessment of damage. Some small planes were tossed across the
tarmac.
Before moving to the Bahamas, the hurricane's outer winds brushed Florida,
where a tropical storm warning was lifted Monday afternoon for the Atlantic
coast from the Upper Keys to the West Palm Beach area.
In the Cayman Islands, several businesses in the capital, George Town, were
damaged, including a waterfront jewelry store that lost some of its display
window jewelry to the sea, police said. Officials were still estimating damage.
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