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2 October 2002 Cuban Red Cross (CRC) volunteers and Cuban government officials have begun the task of assessing the damage and needs of people affected by Hurricane Lili. The hurricane, the second to hit Cuba in the past two weeks, battered the island on Tuesday. The CRC and Civil Defence workers will be helping to establish how many families have been affected and what they need to get their lives back to normal. Any request for international assistance will depend on this needs assessment exercise, but it is anticipated that mattresses and bed sets, kitchen sets and roofing material, such as zinc sheets will be required. The CRC and the Civil Defence are only beginning to get an initial idea of the extent of the damage to the Caribbean island, which was still recovering from Hurricane Isidore, which hit the island less than two weeks ago. Already it is known that more than 570 homes have been severely damaged in the provinces of Santiago, Granma and Guantanamo, while Isla de la Juventud and Pinar del Rio, which were both badly affected by Isidore, are without water and electricity. Assessments from other provinces will happen once the storm has abated. But it is feared that houses already damaged by Isidore will not have been able to withstand Lili. "Isidore already caused severe damage and with Lili the situation will worsen", said the Secretary General of the CRC, Dr Luís Foyo. Before Lili's arrival, the focus was on saving lives, and to this end, 190,000 people were evacuated from their homes, 86,000 of them to temporary shelters and the rest with relatives. Despite the material damage caused when Isidore battered the island on 20 September, no loss of life was reported. This was largely due to Cuba's well-organized disaster preparedness and response systems. As soon as news of the hurricane was received, Cuban Civil Defense authorities launched emergency procedures, and 280,000 people were evacuated from their homes in the hours before Isidore made landfall. Related Links: Situation Report: Hurricane Lili 23 September 2002 - Preparedness saves lives as hurricane hits Cuba More on: Cuba |
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