Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged on Tuesday that the homes that were damaged by the onslaught of Tropical Storm Laura were in very poor condition.
“As we see, the homes that have been affected are those that were very bad,” he said during a meeting of the National Defense Council at the Palace of the Revolution, in Havana, with authorities from the country's 15 provinces and the special municipality. Isle of Youth. The provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo and Pinar del Río were the most affected.
Díaz-Canel pointed out that, although the damage was not of the magnitude that was expected, “we do have a group of damages that should not be underestimated.”
Official estimates from the Cuban government indicate that More than 2,000 homes were affected by Laura in the country, which “is not yet the final number,” according to the president himself. “There are more than two thousand damaged homes, so they give the accounts of what has been reported today, which is not yet the final number,” he assured.
Previously, the figure had been estimated at half the damage, about 1000 homes, when only in Santiago de Cuba the number of affected houses was 265, according to preliminary data. Damage to the home was reported, mostly, to the roofs, while some total collapses were reported.
In the exchange it emerged that the greatest damage to agriculture occurred in banana, cassava and corn crops. Agricultural activity suffered the greatest losses in the provinces of Mayabeque and Artemisa. In Artemisa, a lighting tower at the local stadium collapsed, damaging part of the roof and the stands.
Díaz-Canel asked that the new construction be of quality so as not to regret other losses soon. “Everything that is recovered has to be better than it was before,” he said. “To the extent that we can replace these homes with others of greater strength, the damage caused by cyclones and all these types of events will be less,” he stressed. '
Damage to buildings has been reported from several provinces. In Pinar del Río, There are damages in more than 250 homes and in the roof of eight educational centers. Artemisa counted 146 damages to homes, including total collapses (two in Artemisa and one in Mariel), two partial collapses, 37 total roof collapses and 96 partial, in addition to damage to plate homes and multi-family buildings.
Mayabeque reported preliminary damage to more than 110 homes, with 18 total collapses (12 in Batabanó) and 87 roof collapses, 6 total, according to the provincial official newspaper. Villa Clara has 133 homes affected, of them 110 in Manicaragua. That territory reports four total landslides; nine partial, 17 total ceilings and 103 partial ceilings.
Sancti Spíritus reports 200 damaged homes, while Camagüey reports 216 damages of this type. In Las Tunas there are 22 houses damaged, in Holguín 63. Guantánamo was one of the eastern provinces with the most damage: 15 total collapses, 13 partial and 200 partial and total damage to roofs (44 already recovered). Havana reported partial damage to 32 homes.
The housing situation in Cuba constitutes one of the most deep-rooted problems of the so-called Revolution, which decades ago promised equal conditions for all its citizens. Some Cubans have not resolved their construction problems caused by meteorological events, like the case of Pavel del Pino Reyes from Holguin, who is still waiting for the government to solve the damage caused by Cyclone Ike in 2008.
The administration of Díaz-Canel and Raúl Castro has insisted on the urgency of responding to the housing needs on the Island, and work to achieve it within a period of at least 10 yearsHowever, the objective is still pending and far from being achieved. According to the 2019 Constitution, the State must guarantee all people “adequate housing and a safe and healthy habitat.”
However, according to official data from the Ministry of Construction, Cuba has a deficit of 929,695 homes. Holguín is one of the most affected provinces in this sense, with a need for 115,965 houses to meet the demand.
In Tuesday's meeting, Díaz-Canel also called to accelerate agricultural work for recovery. “We must work to quickly replace the plantations, especially bananas,” he explained. In agriculture, there is still no specific data on the effects caused by Laura.
Cuba entered since Tuesday in the recovery phase after Laura's advance through the Gulf of Mexico, where it became a hurricane. Major General Ramón Pardo Guerra detailed that 435,000 people were evacuated, of which 33,200 went to evacuation centers and the rest in the homes of family and friends.
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