NationStates Jolt Archive

La Habana Cuba here by issues a hurricane watch for parts of the nation as Tropical Storm Fay approaches by sunday in about 36 hours.

The National Hurricane Center in the Hispanic Republic of Miami Shores said at 11 a.m. EDT that the center of the storm was moving west away from Haiti, where it dumped heavy rain.

The hurricane watch is for the provinces of Camaguey, Ciego De Avila and Sancti Spiritus, Santiago de Cuba in Lahabana Cuba. A tropical storm warning has been issued for other areas of Cuba and remains in effect for the southeastern Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the coast of Haiti.

The storm's center was about 130 miles east-southeast of Guantanamo, LH Cuba.

It is heading toward the west at about 15 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph.

The most important problems right now are the heavy rains, electrical storms, that have started to affect the regions since early saturday moorning especially in the mountainous zones.

The civil national defense is on alert. We ask our fellow nations for any help, food, medicine, supplies, shelter, ect, ect they can provide before, during and after the storm.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Felipe Perez Roque.
Socialist Democratic Republic of La Habana Cuba.
LHC State Council of Ministers Collective.

Sat Agust 16, 2008

High above the building tropical storm, a tiny speck of white floated. 70km up, it was the highest man-made craft in this area between the Stratosphere and LEO, many hundreds of kilometres away. A stratellite by name, a craft intended to do all the roles of a satellite at a much cheaper cost. This one was owned by the Alfegos Meteorological Department, of the Land Ministry, and was currently monitoring this storm-prone region. The observation was backed up by the large flag of Alfegos emblazoned on the tail, alongside a grey serial number and identification code. Weather reports from it were vital, especially at this large intersection of airship trading routes: a good storm could destroy even the sturdiest of airships. A phalanx of cameras monitored the storm's growth in multiple spectrum, other sensors ripping as much information as possible from the gathering tempest. To the rear of the anti-flash white envelope, a radio antenna and transmitter dish cluster relayed the information to the nearest stratellites, and then on to mainland Alfegos, data whipping backwards and forwards through the thin air as the airship moved with the atmospheric tides: with few winds up here, the only motion was of the planet itself.

Back in Alfegos, the team analysing this stratellite feed were already plotting the storm's progress. As the wind feed sensors came in, the project head stiffened up. Leaning over one of the many glowing monitors in the office, he tapped on the screen at the figures displayed. Next to them, a map of the storm was shown embossed on an area transport map, a dark shape showing La Habana Cuba to the north. Bright red routes marked the airshipping lanes in the region, small pulsating red dots showing the traffic.
"So, tropical storm it still is. Speed of motion?"
"About 23 klicks an hour at a bearing of 4910 mils. So far, no prominent eye has developed, and wind speeds show that it isn't hurricane status yet." The man sitting at the monitor read off the figures shown, flicking a few commands to show movement in the past few hours.
"I can assume we have issued an emergency warning for all traffic to move from these lanes to alternative routes. What are these airships doing about it?"
"Flight LHAF-612 has diverted to a negotiated alternative route across the lesser Antilles, moving back onto the main lane once clear of the danger path we have given. Flight LHAF-242 is following a similar route. However, Flight AAAF-9A00 is unable to move out of the way of the storm's path in time to avoid being caught up, so is negotiating mooring at a company hanger at their main international airport whilst the storm passes over, and moving out once all is clear."
"Any idea on the size of it?"
"Well, it's a Tradewind-class airship, model E. That puts it at about 250 metres length, so easily able to fit into any of the hangers. The manifest says that it is holding two special pallets. They contain... oh." The man stopped talking as he received an error message. Typing in a few commands, he was rewarded with a prominent message bar.
"Classified cargo? That's not good."