Cuba’s Hurricane Response Far Superior

Commentary.   Marjorie Cohn,La Prensa-San Diego, Sep 13, 2005

Last September, a Category 5 hurricane battered the small island of Cuba with 160-mile-per-hour winds. More than 1.5 million Cubans were evacuated to higher ground ahead of the storm. Although the hurricane destroyed 20,000 houses, no one died.

What is Cuban President Fidel Castro’s secret? According to Dr. Nelson Valdes, a sociology professor at the University of New Mexico, and specialist in Latin America, “the whole civil defense is embedded in the community to begin with. People know ahead of time where they are to go.”

“Cuba’s leaders go on TV and take charge,” said Valdes. Contrast this with George W. Bush’s reaction to Hurricane Katrina. The day after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Bush was playing golf. He waited three days to make a TV appearance and five days before visiting the disaster site. In a scathing editorial on Thursday, the New York Times reported, “nothing about the president’s demeanor yesterday – which seemed casual to the point of carelessness – suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis.” ...

Comments

[CARLOS ALBERTO]

EL HURACAN , SEGUN AUTORIDADES CUBANAS ARRAZO MAS DE 400,000 VIVIENDAS, Y EXISTE EN TODA LA ISLA CASI UN MILLON DE DESPLAZADOS. SE NECESITA MUCHISIMA AYUDA. COMUNIQUENSE CON LA GENTE DE PUERTO RICO QUE ESTAN HACIENDO RUIDO CON LAS DONACIONES, ELLOS ESTAN TRABAJANDO MUCHO.