Posted on Tue, Oct. 25, 2005
Havana streets flooded by Wilma
BY FRANCES ROBLES
frobles@herald.com
Waters poured over Havana's famed seawall Monday, flooding several city blocks as Hurricane Wilma dumped up to 22 inches of rain on other parts of Cuba, the government reported.
Wilma coincided with high tide, causing a surprising storm surge, several independent journalists in Havana told The Herald. Massive waves caused flooding -- three feet deep at some points -- that reached Línea Avenue, five blocks from the malecón, the seawall, journalist Angel Pablo Polanco said.
''Coastal areas of Havana sometimes flood for one or two blocks -- but all the way to Avenue G or Línea? I have never seen floods like that, ever,'' said Polanco, director of the independent news agency, Noticuba.
Polanco stressed that the flooding was not so much from heavy rain, but from the rising sea.
The containment wall at the Hotel Riviera collapsed, and water poured in over the pool, another journalist said. The Herald was unable to reach anyone at the hotel to confirm the damage.
Military divers used inflatable rafts to rescue hundreds of people from inundated homes, the Associated Press reported, describing submerged cars and streets so flooded only the brightblue tops of public phone booths peeked out.
''The ocean is furious, as if it wants to take back the land,'' Rodrigo Cubal, 42, told the AP as he and his family joined scores of other Havana residents gathering to watch the crashing waves, some lapping at the front door of the Foreign Ministry.
Plate glass windows were shattered, old wooden shutters were torn away and doors ripped off their hinges, the agency said. Huge chunks of the concrete sea wall were pulled loose and thrown in the highway.
A city-wide blackout continued as authorities rushed to evacuate dwellers of aging, crumbling buildings who were not among the nation's 650,000 evacuees.
A village called Guanimar south of Havana was under water, the journalists said.
The western Cuban province Pinar del Río took the brunt of heavy rainfall. A third of the residents were evacuated and only four out of 14 cities had power, the government said.
In Mantua, 23 inches of rain fell, the government reported. Guane saw nearly 15 inches and Matahambre, 13.
Cuba's government-controlled press stressed its successful evacuation and well-equipped shelters, distinguishing Cuba's response from the United States' failure in Katrina.
Fidel Castro took to the airwaves Sunday night to praise the efforts of Cuban doctors in disasters around the world -- from Guatemala to Pakistan -- but gave no situation report on western Cuba, government websites show.
''Fidel contrasted the peacefulness, discipline and the organization shown by our people before the blow by this dangerous phenomenon, with the scenes of looting of stores and markets seen in the United States during Katrina and now in the Yucatán, Mexico,'' the state news agency reported.
``This is the great difference between capitalism, which promotes irrational consumerism, selfishness and craziness . . . and our socialist society where there's an enormous effort for equality, solidarity and justice, our commander said.''
Also in the Caribbean, Tropical Storm Alpha left three people missing and presumed dead in the Dominican Republic, where rivers rose over their banks, sweeping away a 14-year-old boy and two men.
The record-breaking 22nd storm of the season caused heavy flooding, particularly in southwest Dominican Republic and eastern Haiti.
Tens of thousands were forced from their homes in south Dominican Republic, where a swelling dam put towns, particularly Jaquimeyes, at risk.
''They have no choice but to leave,'' Maj. Luis A. Luna Paulina, of the nation's civil defense agency told the newspaper Hoy.
The 4,000 people forced from their homes in Haiti returned Monday, said Havik Hans of the International Federation of the Red Cross. Some two dozen homes were washed away in Carrefour, where one person was electrocuted, the Associated Press reported.
''I've lost everything,'' a sobbing Rolande Bruno told the AP as she pointed to the lone standing wall of her home, which dangled over a ravine. ``No one had warned us of anything, but we're not stupid. When the water started rising fast, we left for safety.''
The storm dissipated once Hurricane Wilma approached, the National Hurricane Center said.
Diego Alejandro Romero contributed to this report.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/cuba/12987594.htm
Havana streets flooded by Wilma
BY FRANCES ROBLES
frobles@herald.com
Waters poured over Havana's famed seawall Monday, flooding several city blocks as Hurricane Wilma dumped up to 22 inches of rain on other parts of Cuba, the government reported.
Wilma coincided with high tide, causing a surprising storm surge, several independent journalists in Havana told The Herald. Massive waves caused flooding -- three feet deep at some points -- that reached Línea Avenue, five blocks from the malecón, the seawall, journalist Angel Pablo Polanco said.
''Coastal areas of Havana sometimes flood for one or two blocks -- but all the way to Avenue G or Línea? I have never seen floods like that, ever,'' said Polanco, director of the independent news agency, Noticuba.
Polanco stressed that the flooding was not so much from heavy rain, but from the rising sea.
The containment wall at the Hotel Riviera collapsed, and water poured in over the pool, another journalist said. The Herald was unable to reach anyone at the hotel to confirm the damage.
Military divers used inflatable rafts to rescue hundreds of people from inundated homes, the Associated Press reported, describing submerged cars and streets so flooded only the brightblue tops of public phone booths peeked out.
''The ocean is furious, as if it wants to take back the land,'' Rodrigo Cubal, 42, told the AP as he and his family joined scores of other Havana residents gathering to watch the crashing waves, some lapping at the front door of the Foreign Ministry.
Plate glass windows were shattered, old wooden shutters were torn away and doors ripped off their hinges, the agency said. Huge chunks of the concrete sea wall were pulled loose and thrown in the highway.
A city-wide blackout continued as authorities rushed to evacuate dwellers of aging, crumbling buildings who were not among the nation's 650,000 evacuees.
A village called Guanimar south of Havana was under water, the journalists said.
The western Cuban province Pinar del Río took the brunt of heavy rainfall. A third of the residents were evacuated and only four out of 14 cities had power, the government said.
In Mantua, 23 inches of rain fell, the government reported. Guane saw nearly 15 inches and Matahambre, 13.
Cuba's government-controlled press stressed its successful evacuation and well-equipped shelters, distinguishing Cuba's response from the United States' failure in Katrina.
Fidel Castro took to the airwaves Sunday night to praise the efforts of Cuban doctors in disasters around the world -- from Guatemala to Pakistan -- but gave no situation report on western Cuba, government websites show.
''Fidel contrasted the peacefulness, discipline and the organization shown by our people before the blow by this dangerous phenomenon, with the scenes of looting of stores and markets seen in the United States during Katrina and now in the Yucatán, Mexico,'' the state news agency reported.
``This is the great difference between capitalism, which promotes irrational consumerism, selfishness and craziness . . . and our socialist society where there's an enormous effort for equality, solidarity and justice, our commander said.''
Also in the Caribbean, Tropical Storm Alpha left three people missing and presumed dead in the Dominican Republic, where rivers rose over their banks, sweeping away a 14-year-old boy and two men.
The record-breaking 22nd storm of the season caused heavy flooding, particularly in southwest Dominican Republic and eastern Haiti.
Tens of thousands were forced from their homes in south Dominican Republic, where a swelling dam put towns, particularly Jaquimeyes, at risk.
''They have no choice but to leave,'' Maj. Luis A. Luna Paulina, of the nation's civil defense agency told the newspaper Hoy.
The 4,000 people forced from their homes in Haiti returned Monday, said Havik Hans of the International Federation of the Red Cross. Some two dozen homes were washed away in Carrefour, where one person was electrocuted, the Associated Press reported.
''I've lost everything,'' a sobbing Rolande Bruno told the AP as she pointed to the lone standing wall of her home, which dangled over a ravine. ``No one had warned us of anything, but we're not stupid. When the water started rising fast, we left for safety.''
The storm dissipated once Hurricane Wilma approached, the National Hurricane Center said.
Diego Alejandro Romero contributed to this report.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/cuba/12987594.htm
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