Yahoo! News
November 5, 2001.
Cubans Survey Damage After Hurricane
By Anita Snow, Associated Press Writer.
HAVANA, 5 (AP) - Chunks of concrete and brick littered the streets of Old
Havana on Monday after Hurricane Michelle whipped through Cuba overnight,
uprooting trees and knocking out power. The storm later weakened somewhat,
brushing Florida with its outer winds and then hitting the Bahamas.
Conditions in the rest of Cuba were unclear because communications were
nearly completely knocked out. There were no immediate reports of deaths or
injuries.
A day after hitting Cuba with 130 mph winds, Michelle swept past the Bahamas
capital of Nassau on Monday with 85 mph winds, flooding houses and cutting
power.
The storm, which killed 12 people in Honduras, Nicaragua and Jamaica last
week, left Florida virtually untouched. A tropical storm warning was lifted for
the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas early Monday, but remained in effect for parts
of Florida's Atlantic coast.
Cuba evacuated 750,000 people and shut down power for much of the island
ahead of the storm. By Monday, the streets of Havana's colonial district were
littered with debris - but there were no immediate reports of any building
collapses in the older sections of the city, where buildings have been known to
tumble after a good rainfall.
More than half of the country - from Pinar del Rio province in the west to
Ciego de Avila - remained without power, Radio Rebelde reported.
Javier Godinez, a bartender at the historic Dos Hermanos tavern on Old
Havana's waterfront, said he and several other people braved the storm inside
the building to help protect it, listening as the wind banged against the metal
shutters covering the windows. Godinez said he had been more concerned about the
mother of his young son, who stayed at home.
"She was very worried, but in the end everything turned out all
right,'' Godinez said.
Havana housewife Nimar Herrera Perez, 63, was sweeping water off a sidewalk
in front of her home, which had walls three feet thick.
"These walls are good and strong,'' Herrera said. "You don't feel
anything inside.''
An elderly neighbor stopped by, complaining that Cubans' daily bread ration
had not arrived. "They gave out two rolls yesterday, because of the
storm,'' Herrera said.
Electrical company workers began driving around Havana at sunrise, checking
damage and repairing fallen lines. Company officials told the radio station they
hoped electricity would be restored to the capital later Monday.
By Monday morning the rain had stopped in most of Cuba, but there were
reports of heavy downpours in Cuba's easternmost provinces of Santiago and
Guantanamo as Michelle moved to the northeast.
Michelle's sustained winds were expected to keep declining. By 10 a.m. EST
the storm was centered about 20 miles southeast of Nassau, after approaching
from the southwest.
The hurricane unleashed stinging winds and sheets of rain on the Bahamas
early Monday.
"We have a car outside that is underwater,'' said Nassau resident
Jackie Albury, standing in knee-deep water in her house, her pants rolled up and
a few boxes floating by. "We have taken everything up on the second
story.''
A group of people were being evacuated from low-lying Cat Island, to the
east of Nassau, the Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association said.
"I didn't know it would be this bad,'' said Mavis Turnquest, who drove
to a hurricane shelter with blankets, food, and her Bible in her car. "I
can only trust in God.''
On Sunday, Cuban leader Fidel Castro (news - web sites) had visited tourists
at hotels in Varadero, Cuba's most important resort.
Speaking to reporters in Havana, Castro noted that Michelle entered Cuba at
the Bay of Pigs, on the southern Zapata Peninsula, comparing the hurricane to
the invasion by a CIA (news - web sites)-funded army of exiles that landed there
in a botched attempt to overthrow him 40 years ago.
"Our people are well organized, they have experience. The greatest
success will be to keep the number of victims low,'' he said.
Evacuations are mandatory in Cuba's civil defense system, which was designed
during the Cold War to repel military attacks.
Michelle created an 18-foot storm surge on the outlying island of Cayo Largo
on Cuba's south coast Sunday, but there was no immediate word on what damage it
caused.
The storm battered central-western Cuba during the day with sustained winds
of 125 mph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (news - web sites) said. Ten to
20 inches of rain fell in four days before ending late Sunday.
In Florida, Gov. Jeb Bush had declared a state of emergency Saturday. A
mandatory evacuation order was issued for the Florida Keys on Sunday, but it was
expected to be lifted later Monday.
Miami Beach reported sustained wind of 43 mph with higher gusts early
Monday. Gusts to 45 mph were reported at Marathon in the Keys.
Cuban Relatives Try To Reach Loved Ones
Robert Castro tried to reach his aunt in Cuba Sunday; he's worried about his
relatives who live on the outskirts of Havana.
"All circuits are now busy. Please try your call later," an
operator said.
He hasn't seen his 96-year-old aunt since 1961. That was the year that his
parents brought the family to America, but they have always kept in touch by
telephone.
Now, with Hurricane Michelle cutting across the island nation, Castro is
concerned about the safety of his loved ones.
"The concern for me is the winds. Flooding is not as much but the
winds. And of course the situation in Cuba -- the shortages of food, the
shortages of anything and medications -- and now you throw in a category-four
hurricane, and it just multiplies it," Castro said.
Cuban authorities evacuated more than 500,000 people, but Castro thinks that
his family probably would stay put. Their home is sturdy, but he still wonders.
All we can do at this point is just pray for the best. It's in God's hands,
and we just pray for the best," Castro said.
Castro Seeks to Allay Cuba's Fears
By Anita Snow, Associated Press Writer
HAVANA, 2 (AP) - Seeking to calm a nation rattled by a battered tourism
industry and a weaker local currency, Fidel Castro (news - web sites) assured
Cubans on Friday that they would weather current economic problems.
Communist Cuba will face the weakening world economy "victoriously,''
said Castro in a 21/2-hour prepared speech broadcast live on state television
and radio.
The Cuban leader promised that prices would not be raised on the
government-subsidized basic food basket and that bank accounts both in U.S.
dollars and Cuban pesos would not be affected by the economic downturn.
"In the end, the revolution will win this battle,'' Castro said.
He also reminded Cubans how they overcame the island's worst financial
crisis ever - known here as the "special period in peacetime'' - which
began with the Soviet Union's collapse a decade ago. For three decades, Moscow
had been Cuba's primary source of aid and trade.
The speech came amid growing nervousness among Cubans, who have come to
increasingly depend on U.S. dollars since they were legalized here in the early
1990s.
Worried about a world recession, Cubans have been buying up dollars in
recent weeks, helping cause a Central Bank deficit of $4 million in recent
weeks, Castro said.
The deficit is also the result of a recent drop in the country's
tourism-generated U.S. dollar income.
Tourism is Cuba's No. 1 source of hard currency and has suffered a heavy
blow after the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks on the United States.
Castro said the number of visitors to the island dropped nearly 10 percent
in the 20 days after the attacks, and was projected to drop 14 percent in
October.
Cuba was already hurting from a decline in world nickel and sugar prices,
two main exports.
As a result, the Cuban peso this month weakened from 21 to 22 pesos per
dollar at government exchange houses to 26 to 27 pesos per dollar.
Castro said the rate has stabilized at 26 pesos to the dollar in the
previous three days.
Earlier, Castro offered an apocalyptic vision of the world recession, which
he noted was already brewing before the terrorism attacks.
He also reiterated his opposition to terrorism, as well as the current U.S.
military action in Afghanistan and its impact on innocent civilians. | 
