CUBA NEWS
The Miami Herald

Western Cuba endures Ivan's fury

By Martin Merzer, Elaine De Valle and Nancy San Martin, mmerzer@herald.com. Posted on Tue, Sep. 14, 2004.

Hurricane Ivan bombarded western Cuba with the full fury of a Category 5 killer storm Monday night, damaging hundreds of homes with crushing winds, crashing 15-foot waves into the Isle of Youth and swamping at least two towns.

''The situation is bad, very, very, bad,'' a woman huddled in her home in Pinar del Río province told The Herald by telephone Monday night. Wind howled in the background. "We've been told it's going to get a lot worse. We are in a difficult situation.''

The hurricane seemed to mushroom in size Monday night even as it maintained its deadly power. It was so vast that its clouds simultaneously covered Cuba, the Florida Keys, the entire Florida peninsula and portions of the Bahamas, Mexico, Belize and Honduras.

And it was heading toward Florida. Forecasters posted a hurricane watch Monday night on the entire Florida Panhandle and as far west as Morgan City, La., including New Orleans.

Ivan has killed at least 68 people during its slow trek through the Caribbean, and it is the second hurricane in about a month to hit Cuba. Hurricane Charley left five dead in Cuba and $1 billion in damage.

On Monday, the weather station in Sandino, a town in Pinar del Río, reported 125-mph sustained winds and 160-mph gusts from Ivan. That station and others soon ''lost all communications with the external world,'' according to an amateur radio operator in Pinar del Río city.

After arousing hope that its fierce inner core would bypass Cuba, Ivan veered closer, striking the island's western tip with the eastern edge of the catastrophic eye wall, rocking it with wind and rain.

Still, it appeared that the nation at large was granted a reprieve and would not be savaged. Westernmost Cuba is sparsely populated, and Havana and areas east of it were not expected to experience hurricane-force winds.

STORM 'COURTEOUS'

Cuban President Fidel Castro, who traveled Monday to Pinar del Río, praised Ivan's ''courteous attitude.'' He said Cuba would ''avoid damage and expenses that otherwise would have been incurred'' if the core had bisected the main island.

At the same time, though, a wide region between Havana and the western tip of Cuba remained in danger early today. Ivan was a huge storm and its effects were sprawling and perilous.

''We're worried and frightened,'' one resident of the Isle of Youth told The Herald by telephone.

No new casualty reports were immediately available Monday.

Ivan's storm surge, a wall of water that precedes the eye wall, reportedly covered the fishing towns of La Coloma and Cortes in the province of Pinar del Río. The populations of both towns had been evacuated and much of the province was flooded.

''They're reporting a lot of water,'' said Osvaldo Pla, an amateur radio operator for Brothers to the Rescue in Miami, who monitored ham radio transmissions from Cuba.

An amateur radio operator in Cuba reported that phone and power lines were down in Pinar del Río province and that the storm surge invaded three city blocks along the southern coast.

A ham radio report from Isabel Rubio, a small town in westernmost Pinar del Río, reported some structural damage to buildings in nearby Sandino.

Other amateur radio reported ''hundreds of trees'' down throughout much of western Pinar del Río.

Authorities said 130,000 of the province's 1.3 million people had been relocated from their homes to schools, government buildings, hotels and neighbors' houses.

A woman who was riding out the storm with her 2-year-old daughter and two aunts told The Herald in a telephone interview she had boarded up her windows with plywood handed out by the government.

Rain had not stopped since early Monday morning, intensifying as the day wore on, she said.

''We're a little bored, but that is not important,'' she said. "We've seen what's happened [elsewhere] and we're intent on saving lives at all costs.''

ON ISLE OF YOUTH

Earlier in the day, powerful winds and heavy rainfall knocked out electricity in some parts of the Isle of Youth, flooded streets in many areas, and washed out part of a highway on the eastern edge of the island.

Havana reported heavy rain and moderate wind, and Cuban provinces to the east barely felt the storm.

''It's not coming here,'' said one confident man sitting with his family in their apartment doorway in central Havana. "We got lucky.''

In Havana and Matanzas, where people had been expecting the worst for days, a cautious sense of relief prevailed Monday night.

''Imagine how relieved we feel,'' a Matanzas woman told The Herald by telephone. "Our lives are unlucky enough. We were expecting the worst since the beginning, and I have been glued to the radio, listening to all the bulletins.''

There was one remaining fear: more blackouts than usual.

''We have to take advantage of the daylight hours,'' said another Matanzas woman, cooking a dinner of eggs and rice earlier than usual, just in case. "It's usually pretty bad anyway, but today we expected it to be worse.''

While Castro seemed pleased with Ivan's path, other officials took to the airwaves to remind residents of the storm's dangers.

''Don't take any unnecessary risks,'' civil defense Lt. Col. Domingo Carretero said on state television. "Don't go outside. Don't go on your balconies. Don't cross rivers that are swelling. Don't touch severed electricity cables.''

Jose Rubiera, Cuba's chief meteorologist, said Ivan wasn't through with Cuba. Western provinces, plus other areas, still faced great danger, he said.

''No one should think that it is gone, that we are safe -- that is not true,'' Rubiera said in a broadcast.

Herald staff writers Alfonso Chardy, Angel L. Doval, Renato Perez, Fabiola Santiago and Ana Veciana-Suarez contributed to this report.

Reports from Cuba concerning Hurricane Ivan

By Herald Staff. Posted on Tue, Sep. 14, 2004.

These items are short accounts from regions affected by Hurricane Ivan or in the storm's path. For detailed reports on the hurricane, visit the related links at right.

'Awful wind and rain' lasted hours

Updated at 6:06 p.m. Tuesday

SANDINO - A resident of this town close to where Hurricane Ivan made its closest approach to westernmost Cuba said Tuesday night that hurricane force wind and torrential rains lasted about four hours in the area.

'''It was an awful wind and rain, for most of the night from Monday night to early Tuesday, then calm returned,'' she said.

However, she added, damage was minimal in Sandino and no one was injured. Trees were another story, she said. "They are all damaged in some way or down on the ground.''

-- Alfonso Chardy

Many trees toppled in Sandino

Updated at 5:22 p.m. Tuesday

SANDINO -- A resident of this town in westernmost Cuba, the area that was closest to the center of Hurricane Ivan when it passed by the island Monday night, said most houses and buildings in the town escaped serious damage.

But he said that the surrounding vegetation had taken a beating.

''Not very many trees were left standing,'' he said. "And many of those still standing have no leaves.''

-- Alfonso Chardy

Evacuations were conducted by force

Updated at 4:46 p.m. Tuesday

A man who lives in the historic district of Pinar del Rio City said the Cuban government had been very insistent on evacuating certain areas.

"We know that at 5 a.m. police went into Carlos Manuel with buses to take people out by force. The order was that they had to make sure not one life was lost.''

When told of the UN praise for Cuba's preparations, the man huffed: "Of course the government here can activate better than others, there is total control here.''

-- Elaine de Valle

Hospital in Pinar del Rio up and running

Updated at 4:40 p.m. Tuesday

One of the few places with electricity in Pinar del Rio province was the Juan Navarro Hospital in Manuel Lazo, a neighborhood in the town of Las Martinas, which was operating on power generated by an emergency electrical plant on the grounds.

The head nurse told The Herald in a telephone interview that the 25-bed facility had sustained no damages. It had served as a shelter for neighborhood residents who felt unsafe in their own homes, she said.

''Everybody has left. They left earlier this morning,'' the nurse said about 3:30 p.m.

"All we have now are the patients. We had no damages at all. There has been a lot of attention to preparation and a lot of discipline throughout the whole country.''

She also said that she had heard of only minor damages to homes around the hospital.

-- Elaine de Valle

Some roof damage in Pinar del Rio City

Updated at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday

A man who lives in Pinar del Rio City's historic district said that he had visited about 20 homes and that most had some, but not a lot, of roof damage.

''I see the same stains of humidity on the ceilings. It's like seeing a carbon copy in every house,'' the man, 49, said in a telephone interview with The Herald Tuesday afternoon.

He said many people had lost one or two or three or several of the red tile roofs that are typical in that part of Cuba.

There is some flooding in low-lying areas, he said.

He said that he still hadn't been able to reach friends in Sandino and that state-run radio had reported that damage assessment teams and journalists had still been unable to reach the small town -- believed to be among the worst hit.

Radio commentators warned listeners not to insist calling Sandino because the lines were damaged and their use would only delay any repairs. Calls from The Herald to Sandino and Isabel Rubio were met with the Cuban telephone company's recording that the lines were too congested to get through.

As the man spoke to The Herald over the telephone, a small engine could be heard in the background. "You hear that? That's a reconnaissance plane overhead.''

He guessed the aircraft might be the only way the Cuban government could gauge the damages in places like Sandino and Cortes.

-- Elaine de Valle

Boats smashed at port of La Coloma

Updated at 4:20 p.m. Tuesday

Osvaldo Pla, a ham radio operator for Brothers to the Rescue, had spoken to a friend in the Florida Keys who had been able to telephone his family at their home on Kilometro 15 of the Carretera de Coloma in Pinar del Rio province.

"They told him that at the port of La Coloma there were many fishing boats that had broken up or were smashed against the docks. There's a an area by there, a beach called Las Canas, that has very heavy flooding. The houses there are under water. And from what I remember, those houses are very old and most are made entirely of wood.''

His friend told him that due to flooding only large trucks, not small vehicles, could drive into Las Canas on the Carretera de Coloma.

-- Elaine de Valle

In Havana, mostly a rain event

Updated at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The power stayed on in some areas of Havana throughout Ivan. It has been raining intermittently since Monday night, said a woman who lives in the Playa neighborhood.

There was still a lot of stress left over from anticipation of the monster storm that never came -- and the news that perhaps more were on the horizon.

Several residents of a Soviet-built six-story apartment building said they were leaving all the boards on their windows until they know they are out of future storm paths.

''Now there is a Hurricane Jeanne in Puerto Rico,'' said one woman who lives on the 4th floor and had planned to evacuate.

"I told my husband to leave everything alone. The only thing we did was move the refrigerator away from the back door. We had it there so it wouldn't blow in.

"But we are keeping everything else in the kitchen covered in plastic, just in case, and the windows are going to stay sealed.''

The woman said that it had been raining all day and was pouring at 3 p.m.

"We haven't been able to go out and see how the neighborhood fared in the storm.''

The woman's husband, a retired coach for one of Cuba's national sports teams, said Cuban TV had reported Batabano received almost 8 inches of rain and that in Sandino and surrounding areas it was more than 11 inches.

-- Elaine de Valle

Recovery could take months in Sandino

Updated at 12:38 p.m. Tuesday

Osvaldo Pla, an amateur radio operator for Brothers to the Rescue, said he spoke with a radio aficionado in Pinar del Rio just before noon Tuesday who relayed reports from Sandino, where the streets were still flooded.

''The trees are all on the ground. The pines along the coast are all lying on the ground, like a giant rug,'' Pla said the man told him.

Pla said the village is heavily dependent on its fishing and lobster industry, with most of its residents making their living that way.

"And the lobster industry has suffered tremendous damage. The hurricane destroyed thousands of lobster traps.

"They say it is going to take months to recover.''

--Elaine de Valle

Evacuees leave shelters, assess damage in Pinar del Rio

Updated at 12:34 p.m. Tuesday

When René Oñate and his family left the school in Pinar del Rio City that had served as a shelter from Ivan on Tuesday morning, he was surprised to find an agricultural market open for business.

''The agricultural fair opened in the morning, even though only four or five vendors were selling and with just a little merchandise,'' said Oñate, who bought some malanga.

Oñate, 49, evacuated with his family Monday. He told The Herald in a telephone interview Tuesday morning that the damages he saw on a walk from the shelter to a friend's apartment were not as bad as he expected and that people felt they had been spared the worst.

''There have been some homes that have partially collapsed, and some that have roof damage,'' Oñate said. "But we really thought we would have more damages in housing. What we have is a lot of destroyed trees.''

Oñate still hadn't seen his own house. But he was more concerned about reports of flooding in Sandino and other western towns, which he could not reach by telephone.

"Up to this point, we have not received any reports of deaths. Official radio says there have been no fatalities. But some zones were still under very heavy rains this morning. The city was whipped by those winds but not with the magnitude of the winds that there were in Sandino and Cortes.''

In the neighborhood around Calzado de la Coloma and Avenida Rafael Ferro, Oñate said people were returning to their post-hurricane lives.

"People are taking the boards off their windows. A lot of roofs were in bad condition so there was a lot of homes that are wet inside. I haven't seen any windows broken.

As he spoke, a woman in the background began to yell about an upcoming update on state-run television.

"They say there is another hurricane coming!''

Oñate said the people were still very uneasy.

"There is a state of tension. Pscyologically, yes, people have been affected.''

He said that police and Civil Defense were under orders to keep people in the shelters Tuesday morning but that they were unable to contain most of the people who wanted to leave. "Some of the elderly and disabled are still there, but many people have left the shelters and started returning to their homes.''

-- Elaine de Valle

Power out on island's western side

Updated 12:01 a.m. Tuesday

At about 10:30 p.m., a ham radio operator at the meterological station in Sancti Spiritus in Central Cuba said the entire western part of the island had lost electricity after the pwer was cut off to prevent damage. He also said that he had received reports of many trees and power lines down in the Pinar del Rio province and had heard that winds were at 150 km/h. At about 10:45 p.m., a ham radio operator in Havana named Jose said that the weather in the capital was ''nice'' with very light rain intermittent. He said observed low clouds coming from the east and the wind from the east was estimated at 40 km/h. He relayed a message from the ham radio operator at the Sandino meteorological station to the National Hurricane Center: That there were recorded winds of 120 to 150 miles an hour. -- Elaine de Valle

Road from Pilon to Santiago de Cuba washed out

Updated at 10:30 p.m. Monday

The road from Pilon [rural town in Oriente Province] to Santiago de Cuba is no longer available, a ham radio operator reported. Motorized vehicle transit is impossible in that area. Also, the main phone and data fiber optic going from Havana to Central Cuba has been destroyed due to water damage in Villa Clara and Cienfuegos.

-- Elaine de Valle

Radio, not cellphones

Updated at 10:05 p.m. Monday

Unlike other countries, Cubans don't have cellphones. With phone lines apparently down west of the capital city of Pinar del Rio, there was no information coming out of the affected areas via phone.

''We have to wait until tomorrow,'' said a Pinar del Rio man, listening to the radio all night ''with the little bit of batteries I have left.'' He had been without power for 12 hours by 10 p.m. Monday.

He could not fathom, he said, getting live pictures of a hurricane going through an area, as newscrews do elsewhere in the world.

''I can't, I can't imagine what that would be like,'' he said.

All he knew was that "the eye is going by Cabo San Antonio, that "there's seawater intrusion along the southern coast.''

-- Fabiola Santiago

Reports on wind, outages in western Cuba

Updated at 10 p.m. Monday

Reports being received by the amateur radio station at the NHC from ham radio operators in Cuba:

Pinar del Rio City meteorological station reported the eastern part of Pinar del Rio, including the towns of Sandino, Isabel Rubio, El Cayuo, and all cities east of Pinar del Rio City, lost all phone communications. The few lines working during the day are now lost because of wind damage. Same situation for electricity.

The Pinar del Rio City station reported sustained winds of 50 miles per hour and heavy rains. A ham operator station in Batabanó south of Havana province reported no storm surge coming inland.

According to another ham radio operator in Cuba, Cuba's chief meterologist, Dr. (no first name given) Rubiera, was on live Cuba TV at 6:45 pm announcing officially Ivan's landfall in Cabo de San Antonio. At 6:58 p.m. Cuba authorities report no human losses yet.

At 7:12 the meterological station in Pinar del Rio reported sustained winds of 72 miles per hour and gusts up to 100 miles per hour. The same operator reported the meterological stations at Isabel Rubio and another small town, San Juan y Martínez, ''lost all communications with the external world,'' and ham radio is the only way to report some data.

They did relay a wind report from the Sandino station, which reported at 7:15 that they had sustained winds of 125 miles per hour wwith gusts of about 160 miles per hour, the gusts from the east.

-- Elaine de Valle

Gusty wind, rain in Viñales

Updated at 8:37 p.m. Monday

Residents of the Viñales region in Pinar del Rio, famous for its valley and hillocks about 100 miles from the coastal area closest to the hurricane, reported strong wind gusts and heavy bursts of rain.

People were without power because the government had cut off the electricity preventively, said an employee of Hotel Horizontes la Ermita. But the phone lines were still working Monday night.

''It rains periodically and with some strength,'' he said. "Something has to get us here because it's a huge hurricane.''

The area most affected by Ivan is the isolated Península de Guanahacabibes.

''What we have working in our favor is that the zone nearest to the eye of the hurricane has very little population and it's densely forested,'' the hotel administrator said. "It's a beautiful zone, and María la Gorda [Maria The Fat One] is one of the most beautiful marine preserves in the world.''

-- Fabiola Santiago

Flooding in western Pinar del Rio

Updated at 6:30 p.m. Monday

This is from Osvaldo Pla, an amateur radio operator for Brothers to the Rescue, who was monitoring ham radio transmissions from Cuba Monday afternoon:

"They're reporting a lot of water, some flooding at the very western tip of Pinar del Rio in Cabo de San Antonio. And in the town of Mantua they're reporting very strong winds and a lot of water.''

-- Elaine de Valle

Storm surge enters Pinar del Rio

Updated at 5:18 p.m. Monday

At 5 p.m., Manny Corp, a volunteer amateur radio operator at the National Hurricane Center in West Miami-Dade, received word from Pinar del Rio that phone and power lines were down and that the storm surge had entered up to about three city blocks along the southern coast of Pinar del Rio province.

-- Elaine de Valle

Telephone poles down in Isabel Rubio

Updated at 3:51 p.m. Monday

Amateur radio reports from the meteorological station in Isabel Rubio, a small town in West Pinal del Rio, reported at 1 p.m. that the Sandino meteorological station was damaged and that "now telephone poles are going down, all the meteorological equipment and ham radio stations are working with emergency power. No electricity in the West Pinal del Rio area is available.''

They also recorded gusts of up to 110 kilometers an hour.

At 1:28 p.m. a meteorological station in San Juan y Martinez, another town, reported sustained winds of 30 miles an hour in the east-northeast direction with gusts of 68 miles an hour.

They also reported an inch of rain.

The station also relayed reports from a Ham station in Cortez that "sea penetration is now approximately 25 meters into the city.''

-- Elaine de Valle

Fidel Castro Reported In Pinar del Rio

Updated at 3:36 p.m. Monday

Residents of the westernmost province of Cuba were heartened by television news reports that Fidel Castro was in town to oversee preparations for Hurricane Ivan, said a woman who was riding out the storm with her 2-year-old daughter and two aunts in town.

She said she heard a news bulletin announcing the Cuban leader's arrival at 1 p.m. Like many of her neighbors, the woman said her family had closeted themselves in their house, where windows had been boarded with plywood handed out by the government. Rain had not stopped since early Monday morning, intensifying as the day wore on.

''We're a little bored, but that is not important,'' she said. "We've seen what's happened in Grenada and we're intent on saving lives at all costs.''

A school across the street from her home was full of evacuees, and the streets were empty, she said. To entertain her daughter, she had taken out all the child's dolls and had bathed her early "in case the electricity runs out later.''

--Ana Veciana-Suarez

Prepared for the worst

Updated Monday 3:21 p.m.

At the Hotel Horizontes la Ermita in Viñales, Pinar del Rio, a small staff remained behind Monday to care for the mid-sized hotel located in the central part of the province.

''We're getting a lot of wind, about 60-70 kilometers per hour (35-45 miles an hour) and rain, but we're prepared for the worst,'' said a hotel employee.

The hotel had been evacuated Sunday. The employee said the guests were taken to a ''safe and secure'' location.

--Angel Doval

A sigh of relief, but it's not over yet

Updated 1:33 p.m. Monday

A manager of the Moka Hotel between Pinar del Rio and Havana said tourists had been evacuated to areas west of Havana and that residents had sought shelter in schools and workplaces. So far Hurricane Ivan had displayed itself only in an all-day drizzle and occasional light gusts of wind.

''Not one branch of one tree has fallen,'' she said, adding that a feeling of relief was growing among residents. According to news reports, however, they expected winds to intensify after 5 p.m.

Despite what may be good news for people in this westernmost province of the island, the hotel manager said the evacuation would probably remain in effect for "a while or until there is no danger that Ivan will cross back or threaten.''

--Ana Veciana-Suarez

Ivan's eye moves closer to western Cuba

Updated 1:29 p.m. Monday

From the noon report by Cuba's National Meteorological Institute:

Ivan continues to move toward the northwest at a speed of 7.8 miles per hour. At noon, its core was about 87 miles south-southeast of Cape San Antonio, the westernmost tip of Pinar del Rio province.

The category 5 storm has maximum sustained winds of 156 miles per hour; sustained winds of between 36 and 54 miles per hour, with gusts between 60 and 71 miles per hour, and 15-foot waves were reported on the Isle of Youth.

In Pinar del Rio, sustained winds were between 42 and 60 miles per hour. Ivan's eye is expected to pass near Cape San Antonio late this afternoon.

In Havana province, rain will continue and could become intense in late afternoon and evening. Winds will reach hurricane force at the westernmost tip of Pinar del Rio this afternoon. Elsewhere in the province, winds will be of tropical-storm intensity.

The next report from the Cuban meteorological institute is expected at 6 p.m. Monday.

--Renato Perez

'Like Another Rainy Day'

Updated 1:03 p.m. Monday

A man who lives in Havana said life was going on ''pretty much as normal'' as Hurricane Ivan skirted the island. It was a drastic change from 48 hours earlier, when Havana residents were preparing for a catastrophic hit from the dangerous storm.

''We've had nothing so far,'' said the man, who lives in the central part of the city. "The electricity is on, the phones are working. It's like another rainy day.''

He said most people in the city had begun preparations early and that Cuban television had kept them abreast of the hurricane's path. ''It's been a relief,'' he said.

---Ana Veciana-Suarez

Castro travels to Pinar del Rio

Updated Monday 12:43 p.m.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro traveled Monday to the westernmost province of Pinar del Rio to monitor personally the activities of the Civil Defense agency.

Talking to reporters, Castro ailed Ivan's ''courteous attitude'' as the storm shifted course and did not cross Cuba's mainland as expected.

''If in the next several hours, the hurricane continues on a West-Northwest track, we could say we're safe from its eye, although the danger of rain, wind and high waves will continue,'' said José Rubiera of Cuba's Institute of Meteorology early Monday.

Castro said he hoped the island's recovery from the storm would be swift.

''The cyclone has taught us a lot, particularly on the organizational aspect,'' he said.

In Pinar del Rio, coastal towns like Cortes, La Coloma, Punta de Carta and La Fe were evacuated completely in anticipation of major flooding.

The Isle of Youth was battered Monday morning by torrential rain and sustained winds of 42 miles per hour, with gusts up to 60 miles per hour A persistent rain fell on Havana in the morning.

--Renato Perez

Continuous rain in Havana

Updated Monday 11:31 a.m.

A Havana resident said it has been raining moderately all morning, with brief periods of intense wind and rain. He said residents in the city still have electricity, but he expects the power will go out by late this afternoon, as the storm gets closer.

"We're fine here so far, but [the TV news reports] are saying to expect the worst of it by 6 p.m. tonight.''

--Angel L. Doval

Electricity still on in Pinar del Rio

Updated 10:58 a.m. Monday

A woman living in the center of Pinar del Rio in the western part of the island said wind gusts of up to 30 miles per hour began at about 6 a.m. Monday, but residents still had electricity.

''We have the gusts followed by long periods of calm,'' she said. "We have been told, though, that it will worsen as the day goes by.''

The woman lives with her family in a home that is topped half by roof tile and half by cement and metal. Starting two days ago, they began moving most of their possessions, including appliances, to the part of the house under the metal and cement roof. She said she feels safer there.

Many of her neighbors sought shelter at the city's schools over the weekend.

---Ana Veciana-Suarez

'It is not as bad as we thought'

A resident of Nueva Gerona, a northern town in the Isle of Youth, south of Cuba proper, said electricity had been cut off since mid-day Sunday, before the island had even begun to feel the first effects of Hurricane Ivan.

The winds Monday morning were reaching an estimated 62 miles per hour, according to the resident. He had protected the windows in his home with two-inch thick tape and was not worried about damage, but he was concerned that there would be some damage in the interior where many farmers' homes are topped off with chickee-like palm fronds. He also said the winds gusts had been accompanied by some rain, but not as much as residents had expected. ''I can see that the banana plants close to me are still up,'' he said during a telephone interview, "so it is not as bad as we thought it could be.''

The self-employed welder, who has lived on the island for more than 50 years, says many of his neighbors had evacuated to the mainland after they were warned of a possible storm surge as high as 23 feet.

--Ana Veciana Suarez

Gusty winds, rain in La de Majagua

A worried resident of La de Majagua, Isle of Youth said Monday morning that she was experiencing gusty winds and some rain.

"I have a metal roof over my head and a small radio. We've had no power since about noon [Sunday]. We're worried and frightened.''

The woman, who said the heaviest rains so far occurred overnight, is with her young daughter, an older couple and three others.

--Angel L. Doval

Winds rising in Pinar del Rio

In Pinar del Rio, the winds Monday morning rose to 70 miles per hour with gusts of up to 90 miles per hour, according to Radio Rebelde. Flooding was expected beginning Monday afternoon. Rainfall on the Isle of Youth was estimated at 12 inches.

''It appears we escaped!'' said a Radio Rebelde announcer jubilantly, after Ivan's new coordinates were released at sunrise. The coordinates showed the storm would not cross westernmost Pinar del Rio province but instead would slip through the Canal of Yucatan, slapping Pinar del Rio's tip on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.

--Renato Perez

Electricity shut down in Sandino

Dawn came to the municipality of Sandino with intermittent rain and strong wind, Reinaldo Almora Valle told Radio Rebelde at 7:30 a.m.

Almora, president of the local Defense Council, said the gusts were strong enough to force authorities to cut off all electricity at 3 a.m.

However, ''our people are absolutely calm; there is a feeling of tranquility,'' he said.

Sandino is at the westernmost end of Cuba, on the tip of Cape San Antonio, with a 150-mile beachline that extends from the southern to the northern coast of the cape. It will be hit hardest by Ivan, as the eye of the storm slips through the Canal of Yucatan into the Gulf of Mexico.

Everyone in the municipality has been evacuated, Almora said.

Chief meteorologist Jose Rubiera told reporters that Ivan's vortex will pass as close as 30 miles from Cape San Antonio.

--Renato Perez

500 homes damaged in Guantánamo

Radio Rebelde reported that 500 homes had been damaged in Guantanamo.

In Santiago de Cuba, the towns of La Plata and Magdalena were cut off when a portion of the highway that runs along the southern coast of the province was swept off by the storm.

Civil Defense authorities returned the provinces from Matanzas east to Guantanamo to normalcy. But while they lifted the emergency, the authorities cautioned residents in those provinces to heed Civil Defense instructions before returning home. Schools were to reopen today throughout Guantanamo.

--Renato Perez

Castro makes TV appearance for third day

Cuban radio maintained a positive attitude on Monday morning, stressing the preparedness of the authorities, the resoluteness and discipline of the people and the guidance of President Fidel Castro, who has appeared every night since Friday at the Round Table discussion on nationwide television.

--Renato Perez

Weather disintegrating in western Cuba

From the 6 a.m. weather report issued in Havana by the National Metereological Institute:

Ivan is moving WNW at about 9 miles per hour. At 6 a.m. its center was at 20.3 degrees North and 84.0 degrees West, 127 miles SSE of Cape San Antonio. It has maximum sustained winds of 161 miles per hour with a central pressure of 919 millibars. It is a Category 5 hurricane.

The Isle of Youth Monday morning reports sustained winds 40-47 miles per hour with gusts between 40 and 62 miles per hour.

In the next 12-24 hours, Ivan will move WNW at 9 miles per hour with little change in intensity. This trajectory will take it to the Canal of Yucatan, to the west, very close to Cape San Antonio by late afternoon Monday.

Rain will continue and increase over Isle of Youth and Pinar del Rio, with 8-12 inches expected.

In Havana province, rain will increase gradually and could become intense during the afternoon and night. The intensity of winds will increase gradually in the western region, especially in Pinar del Rio, where they will reach hurricane force this morning over its western tip. In the rest of Pinar del Rio, tropical-storm winds will be felt. Coastal flooding in Pinar del Rio and Havana province's southern coasts will be felt this afternoon.

Next advisory will be at noon Monday.

--Renato Perez

A Hard Day's Work

Updated 9:29 p.m. Sunday

Some Havana residents, in the Playa neighborhood, reported intermittent power outages -- 10 to 15 minutes long every two hours -- but they guessed the trouble was caused by wind because there was no rain yet at 6:30 p.m.

''But, oh man! How this Ivan has made us work,'' said one 54-year-old Havana resident who had gotten ready to leave his 4th floor apartment to go stay at a relative's house five blocks away but was reconsidering in light of the new path early Sunday evening.

''I am dead,'' the man said as he went over the efforts he took to safeguard his belongings.

"I took everything up off the floor, nailed things in place and to the wall and all the doors and drawers shut. I put paper and plastic over everything. I took all the lamps off the ceiling, moved all the furniture to the walls, put things up in the closet.

"I hurt everywhere.''

-- Elaine de Valle

Ham Radio Operators Help Hurricane Workers

Updated at 7:36 p.m. Saturday

At least 15 amateur radio stations from Canada to Honduras were on the air late Saturday afternoon, aiming their antennas toward the Caribbean and relaying reports from ham radio operators in Jamaica, Cuba and the Cayman Islands to a volunteer radio operator at the National Hurricane Centerin Miami.

Armando Flores, the volunteer, relayed information -- mostly weather, wind speed, direction -- to forecasters who use it partly to issue advisories.

-- Elaine de Valle

Wind Begins Picking Up In Cuba

Updated at 7:32 p.m. Saturday

Herman Cueva, an amateur radio operator in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, was heard at the National Hurricane Center ham radio site saying radio traffic from operators in Cuba was intensifying as Hurricane Ivan approached.

One operator who went by the name of Eduardo in Pico de San Juan, Cienfuegos, reported at 4:30 p.m. Saturday that the weather was beginning to deteriorate with sporadic rain showers and rising wind.

-- Elaine de Valle

No major aid initiatives

Updated at 4 p.m. Saturday

Miami-based Cuban exile groups had not begun any major initiatives to send aid to the island post-Ivan, saying their hands are tied by new U.S. policies toward Cuba.

''Until restrictions from both sides are lifted, nothing can be done,'' said Cuban Democracy Movement President Ramon Saul Sanchez. "I imagine that after a hurricane like this, the people will be incapacitated. And the only thing that can help them is outside aide. I hope we are able to help.''

Sanchez said he is reiterating Democracy Movement's request that the Bush administration impose a 60- to 90-day moratorium on new policies affecting Cuba so that outside aid has a better chance of getting to the island.

But more hard-line Cuban exiles said that even if U.S.-based groups could deliver aid to the island, it would be at the mercy of Fidel Castro. So they say they will not even try to help.

''We've been through this a thousand times,'' said Ninoska Perez-Castellon, head of the Cuban Liberty Council. "Fidel has never allowed for help to reach Cuban people. The control is in Fidel's hands. Who wants to send help so the government takes it?''

Added Servilio Perez, head of the Cuban Patriotic Political Counsel, "The hurricane in Cuba is Fidel Castro, and he has lasted 45 years.''

-- OSCAR CORRAL

State Department Sets Up Ivan Task Force

Updated 5 p.m. Friday

The State Department on Friday set up a special task force of officers from its Caribbean sections to monitor Hurricane Ivan as it approached Jamaica and Cuba.

The task force is operating within the State Department's 24-hour operations center, a State Department official said.

''As a standard operating procedure during times of international crises or other major international events, the State Department puts up a task force,'' the official said.

''We have people dedicated to monitoring the situation,'' he added. "This is so the Secretary of State and other officials have the information they need to make appropriate decisions.''

-- Alfonso Chardy

''Very, very bad'' Ivan recedes from Cuba after night-long pounding

By Martin Merzer, and Nancy San Martin, mmerzer@herald.com. Posted on Tue, Sep. 14, 2004.

Cuba was spared the worst of Hurricane Ivan, a Category 5 monster whose 150-mph winds and rain tore up roofs and power lines across a swath of western Cuba but apparently claimed no lives.

''It was like the devil,'' 56-year-old Maritza Quintana, a resident of Babineye near the island's southwestern coast, said of the storm that lashed western Cuba for 24 hours. "It lasted so long; it was a phenomenon.''

In the westernmost province of Pinar del Río, roads were littered with downed pylons, power lines and trees, flooding remained in isolated spots, some farm fields were flattened and some houses had lost their roofs to Ivan's winds.

Dozens of houses in the coastal town of Cortés were leveled by Ivan's 12-foot tidal surges, some still inhabited even though Cuba's Civil Defense had reported that all its townspeople were evacuated long before the storm hit.

''It felt like the roof was going to fly off,'' said Tamara Echeverri, 28, a Cortés resident whose house was flooded by the waves after she moved to a neighbor's house. Her mother-in-law's home on the shoreline was completely flattened by the waves.

Oswaldo Borego, 62, lost thirteen metal panels that served as roof for his living room. Three mattresses he had stored there were soaked. ''I was frightened,'' he said of the storm. "But you have to keep fighting.''

''The trees are all on the ground. The pines along the coast are all lying on the ground, like a giant rug,'' Osvaldo Pla, a ham radio operator for the Miami-based Brothers to the Rescue, quoted a radio aficionado in Pinar del Río as saying.

Some areas along the coast remained flooded Tuesday but many houses and buildings appeared to have been spared from total destruction and there were no reports of deaths or significant injuries hours after Ivan had brushed by Cuba and entered the Gulf of Mexico, heading for a projected landfall near the Mississippi-Alabama state line Thursday morning.

The provincial capital city of Pinar del Río did not show serious damage though the surrounding area was littered with downed trees and power lines, flooded homes, flattened banana plantations and overflowing rivers. Two radio and TV towers also collapsed.

A handful of vendors even showed up at the city farmers' market Tuesday to open for business.

''The agricultural fair opened in the morning, even though only four or five vendors were selling and with just a little merchandise,'' an independent artist and gallery director who went to the market told The Herald in a telephone interview.

''It was a very intense storm, but the people were very prepared,'' the man said. "Those of us under 50 were told that we had never seen anything like what was coming. But, happily, the damage really has not been as bad as we thought it could be.''

The region's precious tobacco crop, the communist-run island's third-largest export, also appeared to have fared well.

In Havana, Jose Martí International Airport was scheduled to reopen and schoolchildren also were expected to return to classes today. More than 100 water trucks moved about the capital dispensing drinking water where needed and local bus service was spotty because most of the vehicles had been diverted to transport the record 1.6 million people evacuated from coastal and flood-prone areas.

According to Cuba's national meteorological service, Ivan's eyewall brushed Cape San Antonio -- on the western tip of Pinar del Río province -- between 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Monday, carrying sustained winds of up to 156 miles per hour.

Winds of 120 mph flogged the province's city of Sandino, while in Santa Lucia and Isabel Rubio gusts of 84 mph were recorded, according to the newspaper Granma.

Ivan killed at least 68 people as it crossed the Caribbean. It was the second hurricane to hit Cuba in a month, after Hurricane Charley killed five and caused $1 billion in damages.

The unanticipated relief from catastrophic damage in Cuba from Ivan's fury led some to thank God.

''I was very nervous because the situation was very, very bad for awhile,'' a woman from Pinar del Río told The Herald by telephone Tuesday. "I was praying to God constantly that he would protect us and I believe he did.''

President Fidel Castro chalked up the absence of significant damages to his government's war-like preparations, including mandatory evacuations and almost constant warnings on television and radio.

''We have turned a tragedy into a victory, as we usually do,'' the 78-year-old leader told official media from Cuba's western province, Pinar del Río.

But a group of Cubans at a roadside stop in the Pinar del Río town of San Juan y Martínez jokingly credited Ivan's miss to Castro's long-alleged powers of Santeria, Cuba's mixture of Catholic and African beliefs.

''He moved his shells,'' one of them said, referring to the snail and sea shells used by Santeria priests to divine the future and appeal to their gods.

Herald staff writers Elaine De Valle, Angel L. Doval, Renato Perez, Fabiola Santiago and Ana Veciana-Suarez contributed to this report.

Cubans express relief as Ivan's worst skips most

Posted on Tue, Sep. 14, 2004.

Some 48 hours ago, people in Havana were expecting the hurricane of their lives: a Category 5 monster. But Ivan, as it did to a lesser degree for Jamaica, veered west and spared most of the island from serious damage.

On Monday, a staff of Herald reporters spoke to or e-mailed people who endured the storm in Cuba, mostly everyday people trying to cope with a fearsome couple of days.

Here are some of their voices:

o MATANZAS

SIGH OF RELIEF

"Imagine how relieved we feel. Our lives are unlucky enough. We were expecting the worst since the beginning and I have been glued to the radio, listening to all the bulletins.''

-- A woman who washes and presses clothes for a living.

o HAVANA

'NERVOUS TENSION'

"I can't get rid of the nervous tension. . . . [A hurricane] would leave us even more psychologically desolate than we already feel.''

-- A woman who complained of her meager rations, and said that these days in Cuba, "one foreign relative is worth more than 20 delegates of the party.''

o PINAR DEL RIO

STAYING PROTECTED

''We're a little bored, but that is not important,'' she said. "We've seen what's happened in Grenada and we're intent on saving lives at all costs.''

-- A resident who had spent all of Monday inside a boarded-up house

o ISLE OF YOUTH

BANANA PLANTS OK

"I can see that the banana plants close to me are still up, so it is not as bad as we thought it could be.''

-- Resident of Nueva Gerona

o HAVANA

'I HURT EVERYWHERE'

"Oh man! How this Ivan has made us work. I took everything up off the floor, nailed things in place and to the wall and all the doors and drawers shut. I put paper and plastic over everything. I took all the lamps off the ceiling, moved all the furniture to the walls, put things up in the closet. I hurt everywhere. I am dead.''

-- A 54-year-old man on the effort he made to safeguard his belongings.

Herald staff writers Ana Veciana Suarez, Elaine de Valle, Angel Doval, Fabiola Santiago and Alfonso Chardy contributed to this report.

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