Mountains buffer Cuba from big blow

Posted on Tue, Aug. 29, 2006

ERNESTO'S PATH
Mountains buffer Cuba from big blow
Ernesto left little damage in Cuba, but killed two people in Haiti and
flooded hundreds of homes in the Dominican Republic.
By NANCY SAN MARTIN
nsanmartin@MiamiHerald.com

Tropical storm Ernesto dumped heavy rains, but weakened considerably as
it barreled across eastern Cuba Monday, causing minimal damage before it
returned to the open sea. It was expected to regain strength and head
toward South Florida.

But at least two storm-related deaths were confirmed in Haiti and
hundreds of homes were flooded in neighboring Dominican Republic. The
mountain range on the island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the
Dominican Republic, helped buffer a more serious blow to Cuba.

''The mountains of Haiti and the interaction with the mountains in the
eastern region [of Cuba] have prevented it from developing,'' José
Rubiera, Cuba's chief meteorologist, told reporters in Havana. ``The
only important factor about this tropical storm is the rain.''

The weakened and poorly defined Ernesto made landfall in Cuba Monday
morning about 20 miles west of the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo Bay,
with sustained winds of 75 mph.

But it barely clung to tropical storm status as it slowly bumped over
Cuba's eastern Sierra Maestra mountains, then moved toward the northwest
before exiting through the northeastern coast and out to sea Monday night.

Strong winds and thunderstorms kept pounding Cuba through midday,
especially in the east. Some towns in Camagüey province had no
electricity, but little else appeared to have been disturbed.

Intense rainfall was recorded Monday morning in the provinces of
Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo and in several parts of Holguín.

All national flights and railroad travel to the eastern region were
canceled Monday but were scheduled to resume today.

The U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay felt little effect from Ernesto as
it passed through.

''It was just a tropical rain storm,'' Army Lt. Col. Lora Tucker said.
``We had a lot of rain and really no significant wind.''

The base on Cuba's southeastern tip has a population of about 8,000
people. The storm dropped about 2.1 inches of water on the base.

Cuban news sources reported the evacuation of nearly 620,000 in the
eastern region, including about 270,000 in Granma province; 200,000 in
Holguín; 60,000 in Santiago de Cuba; 51,000 in Camagüey; 20,000 in Las
Tunas; and 15,000 in Guantánamo.

By early evening, Guantánamo, Santiago de Cuba and Granma were put on
''recovery'' status and a state of ''normalcy'' was issued for Pinar del
Río, Havana, City of Havana, Matanzas, Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Sancti
Spíritus and Ciego de Avila.

In Haiti, where Ernesto entered on Sunday, strong winds and rainfall
battered the southwest coast.

Alcé Jean-Baptiste, a spokesman with Haiti's civil protection
department, said a woman was killed in Ile-a-Vache island when her house
collapsed. In St. Louis du Sud, a man's corpse was found near the sea.

Haitian authorities also reported that Ernesto isolated the southern
portion of the region when its heavy rains severely damaged a bridge in
Grand Goave. The bridge, located on a main road, connects Port-au-Prince
with the south.

In the Dominican Republic, sheets of rain swelled rivers, several homes
were damaged in landslides and by falling trees and more than 400 houses
were flooded in the capital of Santo Domingo and nearby San Cristobal
province.

Miami Herald staff writers Gladys Amador, Noah Bierman, Jacqueline
Charles and translator Renato Pérez contributed to this report.

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