| Cuba Hurricane Gustav - update from Susan - our woman in Havana |
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| Written by Sharon Skup |
| Sunday, 14 September 2008 17:09 |
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Subject: hi there...Hurricane Gustav 2nd email ( 1st email follows below with background info) Date: Sun, 31 Aug 2008 23:28:55 -0700Hi there. I'm tired today because of everything I've had to do, cleaning up the front of the house, the roof, putting the plants back, repotting some plants, talking with neighbours, etc.Electricity came back this morning and gas a bit later. Other parts of the street were without electricity until late afternoon. The Isla de la Juventud and central Pinar del Rio were hit terribly hard. The worst damages in 50 years. Gusts up to 340 kph. That's not a typographical mistake - 340 kph! Recorded. But no loss of life. None. And electricity brigades from other provinces already arriving in the affected areas by early morning today, with repairs already underway, plus public health making sure that no illnesses or epidemics result from stagnant water, etc. And people already working together cleaning up, rebuilding temporary shelters out of fallen timbers and blocks, optimistic. You should hear the interviews with simple local people. The confidence they have that they'll get the necessary assistance from the state to rebuild and start again.At the same time, many Cubans already talking about their concern about what will happen - again - if and more likely when Gustav hits New Orleans. People must be terrified there. Tomorrow I'll try to send you a little update on the extent of damages. Just in the central part of Pinar some 86,000 homes affected and/or destroyed. The Isla completely without electricity and many areas incomunicado. The only communciation via ham radio and some cell phones. The images from planes, which we're already seeing on TV, is horrendous!But not one life lost. Although there were some injuries, some 19 people injured in various locations from falling roofs or busted in doors and windows. But no one critical.Couldn't write earlier as the email link was problematic... G'night.Susan Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:50:40 -0700Hi there. Some of you have been following the development of what is now, once again, Hurricane Gustav, and writing me constantly with your concerns and support, and others of you, well, have been more silent although I know you're still thinking of me. Thought you'd like an update of what's happening in the Caribbean waters south of Cuba. For those of you who haven't been following Gustav in any detail, and if you want more details, go to the website of either the National Hurricane Center (US) or the Instituto de Meteorologia (INSMET - Cuba). Just typing in the name should be enough to get you to their site... Anyway, after battering Haiti and Jamaica, and now the Cayman Islands, and turning from a category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm as it went over the mountains of Haiti and Jamaica, it's now turned back into a solid category 1 hurricane as it moves over the Caribbean. And it looks like it'll hit Pinar del Rio and Isla de la Juventud at the least, and, if it turns just a tiny bit more towards the northwest, it could be a direct hit on Havana or Matanza. As of 8 this evening, it was 145 km east of the Grand Caymans and 370 km southeast of the Isla of Youth, with sustained winds of 130 kph and moring northwest at 11 kph. The central pressure is slowly but steadily dropping and was 975 a couple of hours ago. And it's growing. Just so you'll know how big it is, at noon today, when it was still a high-level tropical storm, the diametre of wins with a force between 64-117 kph was some 450 km from one side to the other. That's huge! And it's anticipated that it'll get larger as it continues to grow, likely into a category 2 hurricane and possibly into category 3 before it actually hits Cuban land. You see, the Caribbean Ocean is really warm - between 32-24 degrees celsius - just what hurricanes like to be able to grow bigger and stronger. Pinar del Rio and Isla de la Juventud have already been put into the phase of Hurricane Alarm, usually reserved for when a hurricane is right on top of you. Provincia Habana, the city of Havana and Matanzas, as well as the southern coast of Cuba in the western and central parts of the country, are all on Hurricane Alert. At the very least, we're going to be getting very strong and sustained rains, likely beginning tomorrow at some time. Even if Gustav passes only over the more western part of Pinar del Rio, the "rain wheel" (what I call it" of Gustav will cover the entire western and central part of the country. So, what have people been doing? And what have I been doing? Besides all the usual things that Cuban Civil Defense does, which most of you know pretty well: evacuations of people in zones with the greatest danger of inundations, securing transport (interprovincial trains and buses were are now cancelled until further notice; planes too), evacuation centres, food, medical assistance, etc. Ensuring emergency energy supplies, special attention to water and gas supplies, protecting crops and seeds and green houses and irrigation systems, moving livestock to higher grounds, distributing food products to the population, taking down solar energy systems from mountain areas and putting them into safe storage, and lots of other things. Cuba is good at this and does it in good time; nothing at the last moment. But then there are the things that people do on their own: cleaning out external drains, making sure there's nothing on roofs that could become deadly projectiles in strong winds, etc. I did all of this some days ago.For the past several days, people have also been stocking up on food supplies, especially things that don't require a lot of preparation. Also candles. I also made sure to have a good supply of things that my cats like to eat. I anticipate that by tomorrow afternoon, if Gustav continues on his present course and the atmospheric pressure starts to change in this area, that Mariposa will do her usual pre-hurricane thing of sitting out on the front veranda, clearly nervous, and looking up at the sky until the rains start. At which time she makes a beeline for inside the house. As you know, many animals - cats, dogs, horses, pigs, birds, etc. - are very sensitive to changes in atmospheric pressure. There's no doubt but that Mariposa notices this and that it makes her nervous and worried. It'll be interesting to see if Luisito does the same, as I've never been with him in a hurricane. But earlier this week, when there was a specially heavy rainstorm, he was very nervous and only wanted to sit on my lap, following me around the house crying when I had to get up. So, if Gustav continues on the trajectory that he's indicating now, tomorrow morning I'll fill up my 60-litre plastic drum with clean water, which I'll then use for drinking and cooking for the next ten days, which is about how long it takes for the regular piped-in water to completely clean out. But between the cistern in the garage entrance and the tank on top of the house, there's not much problem with water supply. I'll also move the potted plants off the veranda walls and put them into the corners, which gives them very good protection from the winds. I may bring the smaller potted plants into the house. And I may give a support cord to the noni. Oh yes, I'll also prepare the kitty's hurricane cat box, which consists of a large round plastic washbasin. Works perfectly for the 24-36 hours that it'll be needed.Plus I'll get the candles ready, as when winds reach 60 kph sustained the electricity and gas are cut off as a preventive measure. And I'll get my little Sony radio and batteries ready as well as the flashlight.And voila! I'm set. And so are the cats. I've also received calls from neighbours (Nora and Juan Carlos, who some of you know) saying that if I need any help tomorrow, to let them know, since I'm on my own at the moment in the house.Anyway, I'm sending you all these details so you'll know I'm ok. Of course, it could be that Gustav does something weird like hurricanes can often do, and turns around and goes back to where it came from, or some such thing. Tropical storms and hurricanes are strange weather systems. They can make figure eights and 90 degree turns and go backwards. After all, Fay went in and out of Florida four times as she made her way up the western coast of the peninsula, the first time in Florida's history that such a thing has happened.So we're dealing with unpredictable weather systems when we're dealing with hurricanes.But Cuba is good at this stuff. Puts saving lives first and puts all its resources to this task. The next thing is protecting the economy. Meanwhile I'm reading a wonderful novel called Art & Lies by British writer Jeanette Winterson. Her prose is poetry.And two days ago I bought my favourite flower, coincidentally called Mariposa, that gives off that exquisite aroma that fills the entire house. I got THREE bunches!And yesterday I got some DELICIOUS strawberry-flavoured Cuban-made yoghurt. And at a decent price. I also bought two yummy avocados from some of my neighbours whose family member, visiting from Ciego de Avila, brought them to sell in Havana. Each one cost 7 pesos. Big avocados. Fresh. Beautiful yellow-green colour inside. Sweet. 7 pesos. That's just under 25 cents.And today I got some wheat bread. And honey even.And yesterday I finished translating, for Cubanow, a very interesting (but long) outline of a new film that's going to be made in Cuba. Called Water. That's right. The "Spanish" title is Water. Set in Jamaica. About attempts of some of the local corrupt, in cahoots with foreign (yes, US) interests, to privatize water and the people's struggles to stop this. Good storyline. Interesting characters. I'll let you know when the movie comes out. I don't think this particular translation was for the digital website as it came from the presidencia (head honchos) of the Ministry of Culture.Sometimes we translate books, such as the correspondence between Fidel and Che back in the 50's when the struggle was just starting in the Sierra Maestra. Interesting stuff, this.Wow!So I'm ready, whether or not Gustav shows his face. Love, Susan
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| Last Updated on Sunday, 14 September 2008 18:53 |
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