Floodwaters Recede in Cuba, Reveal Damage

Floodwaters Recede in Cuba, Reveal Damage

By VANESSA ARRINGTON, Associated Press Writer
Tue Oct 25, 9:43 PM ET

Floodwaters from Hurricane Wilma that transformed the coastal streets of
Cuba's capital into rivers began receding Tuesday, leaving behind damage
to historic buildings and the famed Malecon seawall.

The coastal highway paralleling the Malecon was dotted with chunks of
the seawall as well as huge holes where the road had been chewed up by
pressure from the ocean.

The windows of Havana's seaside hotels and the headquarters of the
island's tourism ministry were smashed, with nearby wire fences twisted
and clumped with debris.

Those living near the ocean sifted through what was left of their
belongings.

"I wanted to die when I first came home," said Dayami Gonzalez,
scrubbing her refrigerator. "We just finished fixing up this apartment a
year ago, and now we have to go back and do repairs again. It could take
years."

Gonzalez's husband, Alejandro Rios, held up a tape measure to a gooey
line on the wall showing how high the water had reached — 38 inches. The
couple had lifted most of their valuables up before the storm, but, in
most cases, not high enough.

"We never thought it would come up this high," Gonzalez said of the
water. "Mattresses, books, tables — ruined."

Basement apartments took the most severe blow, with water reaching the
ceiling during the ocean's assault and still waist-deep under Tuesday's
sunny skies.

There were no immediate reports of deaths attributed to Hurricane Wilma.
Nearly 700,000 people were evacuated across Cuba's west as Wilma approached.

Although the Malecon and adjacent neighborhoods often flood during
storms, the extent of Monday's flooding was highly unusual.

___

Associated Press writer Anne-Marie Garcia in Havana contributed to this
report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051026/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cuba_wilma_1