Hurricane damage in Cuba
The city of Havana has had a sea wall for several centuries now, and hurricane Wilma's force breached the sea wall for the first time in decades. Flooding swamps Havana, where scores are rescued
Giant waves crashed onto Havana's sweeping seaside boulevard, the Malecon, inundating hotels, apartment buildings, neo-colonial-style homes and the U.S. diplomatic mission with water as deep as 6 feet.The problem is, due to lack of maintenance to the infrastructure, the waves ripped off chunks of the famous Malecón seawall and caused extensive flooding, as you can observe in this picture.
Castro's oppresive regime is destroying Cuba's cultural heritage:
Coyula said three studies showed Cuba needs underwater breakers to soften the waves' blow, but cost estimates in the millions make the project prohibitive.Take a look inside the book Cuba: 400 Years of Architectural Heritage so you can see what massive damage looks like. Then see how The Real Cuba desintegrates.
But while the images of waves thrashing against the Cuban Foreign Ministry were dramatic, Coyula said storm surge is just one part of an ongoing problem.
''The waves were more spectacular, but it's the daily problem of sea salt that damages the brick, steel and paint,'' Coyula said. ``It's a very serious price for the privilege of living by the sea. The flood just aggravates the situation.''
He said heavy rainfall is actually much worse for the buildings, but the older ones tend to stand up to it more than those built between 1910 and 1940. A survey of the damages will be done today, now that the water has receded, he said.
Quintana said 70 percent of Havana's housing stock is in precarious condition, meaning in the United States, they would be condemned.
He said almost all the buildings are in urgent need of repair, and the regular onslaught of storms doesn't help. The 500-year-old Cuban capital holds the world's largest collection of Spanish colonial buildings, but many are so deteriorated that they regularly crumble under heavy rainfall.
About 1,400 buildings must be abandoned each year for fear of collapsing.
The Cuban government said Wilma damaged 2,000 homes.
Blame the embargo? As I posted previously, no embargo kept that $3,900,000,000 from enriching fidel during the period of 1996 and 2003. A portion of those billions might have saved the Malecón.
Update, October 27 Storm damage photos
Peter Krupa with yet another instance of Associated Press Deficit Disorder.
posted by Fausta @ 8:50 AM
2 Comments:
Yeah the Malecon got hit hard, but you miss what is clearly the big picture and omit any facts. Lets recap.
Western Cuba and Havana got flooded just as much as anywhere else, but 1) No one was killed in cuba, there were at least 6 in florida and 12 in the Carribean, 2) There is calm in Cuba, while there's widespread looting in Mexico and mounting anger in So. Florida. 3) 90% of the power is back on in Cuba, while 2.6 million people in Florida are without power. 4) Cubans are getting food and water rations at the Bodega and from government trucks, while Chertoff admits there's not enough food, water, gas or ice. 5) Cubans are gathering falled fruits and vegetables from their flooded fields, while in the US they'll be left to rot for insurance money, plus costs will rise in the wake.
As a fellow city planner, Mr. Quintana should have known that houses in FAIR to poor condition in this country are not condemned. And he should have checked his facts - the number is 50% not 70% according to the recent Cuba-UN study. And maybe its worth noting that 25% of our city dwellers live in housing units are in substandard condition and that another 25% pay more than 1/3 of their income for rent/mortgage. And 80% of Cubans own their own homes and the rest pay less than 10% of their income.
Fact: businesses are back to work in Miami. I just called two relatives at their workplaces yesterday.
Fact: no deaths were reported in Cuba.
Fact: Due to its crumbling infrastructure, in Cuba power outages caused by breakdowns in several aging plants have become a near-daily occurrence, fraying the nerves of millions who are living without electricity for five to 10 hours a day.
Fact: I spoke to other friends in Miami, and they confirmed that in the area where they live, Miami has running water. Food stores are open. Gas stations are working.
Fact: Cubans have to make do on a book of rations.
Fact: American supermarkets can't sell substandard produce. Farmers that are insured are right to collect on their insured losses.
As for the absurd notion that "80% of Cubans own their own homes", show me one Cuban living in Havana that can get a mortgage on his/her home so they can add value to it.
Post a Comment
<< Home