NationStates Jolt Archive

Updated Report on Hurricane Gustav : Hurricane Gustav has been more severe than expected. We welcome all fellow nations aid, reports of deaths and injured are coming in quickly. All fellow nations ships may head for the port of Nuevitas in the Province of Camaguey. Due to poor communication channels we are unable to give you more accurate directions. We are sure your expert sailors know the way by the smell of the Sea. All nations may post (RP) thier arrival, aid and actions.


Hurricane Gustav en route for the Isle of Youth (ISla De Pinos Archipelago) with Category 3 strenth.

At 06:00 this morning, Saturday, the Forecast Center at the La Habana Cuba Institute of Meteorological Institute released the following warning of a tropical cyclone:

The whole of the western half of LHC Cuba must continue paying maximum attention to the evolution and future trajectory of Hurricane Gustav. The area of immediate danger ranges from Pinar del Río province to the two Havana provinces, including the Isle of Youth, Isla De Pinos.

Given that it is a large hurricane in the vicinity of Cuba, Gustav’s area of influence will be extensive, so that attention needs to be focused on a wide area, not at one fixed point. Its current movement will affect Cuba during all of today and into the early hours of Sunday morning.
There will be showers and rain from the Provinces of Camagüey to Matanzas. that will extend during the morning to the rest of the western provinces, including the Capital city of La Habana Cuba.

The rainfall will be heavy and locally intense. There will be heavy seas and flooding in low-lying areas of the southern coast from Las Tunas to Cienfuegos, that will extend during the morning to from Matanzas to Pinar del Río, as well as the Isle of Youth. Coastal flooding will be significant on the southern coast of Pinar del Río and Habana provinces.

Hurricane force winds will hit the Isle of Youth from the late morning until nightfall and Pinar del Río from the afternoon. Tropical storm force winds will begin to blow in the Havana provinces from the late morning and in Matanzas from the afternoon.

A hurricane alert has also been declared for coastal municipalities in the southern parts of Ciego de Avila and Camagüey provinces, and that status remains for the municipalities on the southern coast of Las Tunas Province.

During the early hours of today Gustav intensified and is now a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale with maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour, with higher gusts, and its central pressure has descended to 959 hPa. It is moving in a northwesterly direction at 19 kilometers per hour.

At 06:00 the center of Hurricane Gustav was estimated at 20.3 latitude North and 81.4 latitude West, placing it at 190 kilometers southeast of Punta del Este, Isle of Youth.

Gustav will continue moving in a northwesterly direction during the next 12-24 hours, intensifying further before touching Cuban land, where it could be close to a Category 4. It has a wide area of influence covering a diameter of 520 kilometers, and thus will affect the western half of the country, including the Isle of Youth.

Its forecast movement and intensification mean that provinces from Pinar del Río to Matanzas and the Isle of Youth must be very attentive to the trajectory and development of this dangerous tropical system, with Villa Clara, Cienfuegos,Sancti Spíritus and Camaguey remaining informed.


Hurricane Gustav gained strength as it slammed into La Habana Cuba's Pinar Del Rio Province as a category 4 hurricane this saturday, causing rivers to overflow in the rich Tobacco growing province.

Heavy waves hit La Haban Cuba City's famous Malecon Sea Wall. LHC Cuban officials said the storm knocked over trees, damaged buildings, demolished banana plantations on the Isla De Pinos archipelago, washed boats ashore including in the middle of the streets, but no deaths had been reported.


Hurricane Gustav Ravages Western La Habana Cuba :

PINAR DEL RIO, LHC Cuba, Aug 30. The passage of Hurricane Gustav across this province caused severe meteorological conditions, particularly on the northern part of this western territory, where the Paso Real de San Diego was almost devastated.

Strong gusts of wind over 340-km/hour were felt in the Paso Real de San Diego zone after the hurricane hard hit the Los Palacios municipality; although there is also considerable damage in other areas like Candelaria, San Cristobal and Bahia Honda. The hurricane’s strong winds are also being felt in the province capital city and other localities.

More than 147,900 people were evacuated in Pinar del Rio, most of them went to the homes of neighbours and relatives.

According to the Cuban Weather Institute, Gustav will cross the province by 10 pm tonight and will cause serious flooding on the northern coast.

More than 250,000 people were evacuated to safe places in the four western Cuban provinces and in the Isle of Youth in the face of Hurricane Gustav.

While the necessary evacautions and preparations of food supplies, medical attention, ect, ect were implemented by the Civil National Defense. We ask our fellow nations to send food, medicines, shelter supplies, building materials, clothes and any aid they can provide as soon as conditions allow. They may post thier pledges of aid.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Felipe Perez Roque
President Raul Castro Ruz
Comandante en Jefe, Fidel Castro Ruz.
LHC State Council of Ministers Collective
Socialist Democratic Republic of La Habana Cuba.

Official Communication
Federal Republic of the Far Echo Islands
Office of the Foreign Minister
1 Freedom Circle, Atlyia
Jer Kalaj

Minister Roque of La Habana Cuba:

The Federal Republic of the Far Echo Islands is a state which knows the affects of storms on the lands. We are at a lack of the man power needed to provide human aid, but we can send several medical ships along with food and water and $15,000,000 USD to aid in the recovery process.

Signed,


Jer Kalaj
Foreign Minister

The Kingdom of the Royal British States will send 2 hospital shops and 4 transportation ships with aid worth of $1 billion USD

Brabandia will send foodpacks and rescueworkes as soon as possible.

The Union of Westseacombe

The union has today released the following statement

The union held an emergency meeting and has agreed to donate $100m for the reconstruction of the effected region


End of statement

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The Miraadery of Catawaba
An Official Communication from the Alpha Miraade
Concerning Catawaban Rescue Efforts in the Wake of the Hurricane Gustav

Presidente Raul Castro Ruz,

Though our ideological stances upon government differ greatly, basic humanity binds us together and proves that we are never separated by too wide a schism. I would willing to send my Second Patrol and Rescue Squadron of ten Saviour-class PRVs.

The squadron is equipped with twenty Seahawk search and rescue helicopters, and each vessel has a medical bay sufficient for triage and trauma care until patients can be transferred to more extensive medical facilities. The Saviour-class vessels are also armed well enough to defend themselves and discourage any opportunists that might take advantage of the disaster for their own ends. We will also be loading emergency supplies aboard each vessel to be delivered and distributed by the Seahawk helicopters.

I hope that this is acceptable. Please feel free to contact me, sir.

From the heart,

Alpha Miraade Errant Mira'ad
Commander and Chief

The Divine Dictatorship of Console do Anjo will send in O Legion extrangeiro Divine (or The Divine Foreign Legion) to assist the people once the storm passes.

*OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUE*

TO: Felipe Perez Roque, Foreign Affairs Minister, Socialist Democratic Republic of La Habana Cuba
FROM: Governor Winston Garcia, Tolvanic San Espada Islands

RE: Storm Recovery Aid

Dear Sir,

While it is true the Commonwealth is no ally of socialism, we are not without compassion for our fellow Man. As a result I have authorised to offer the following aid to your nation:

200,000x Standard Field Rations
300,000 .5 liter bottles of water
50,000x four man field tents
35,000x field cots
75x pallets of tools and building supplies
35x pallets of medical supplies
15x bulldozers
10x front end loaders
50x 1/2 tonne jeeps
40,000x liters of petol
1,000x 50 Mw generators


These supplies will delivered via military transport to a port of your choosing. In addition we are prepared to deploy two Endurance class long range patrol cutters to assist in SAR operations.

We await your reply.

Hurricane Gustav has been more severe than expected. All fellow nations may post (RP) thier arrival, aid and actions.

The Power was out across most of La habana City Province, as the wind picked up and blew sheets of rain down the Cuban capital's seaside boulevards & Malecon Sea Wall.

PINAR DEL RIO Province, La Habana Cuba, Some residents of this picturesque town Los Palacios, in the western province of Pinar del Río, have already rebaptized their town in the wake of Hurricane Gustav: They now call it The Ruins.

In the storm LH Cuban authorities are saying was the worst here in more than 50 years -- one that registered unprecedented wind speeds -- Los Palacios has the dubious distinction of being the first that lay directly in Gustav's path.

The pastel-colored houses in this town of 15,000 collapsed. Cars went flying. Power and phone lines throughout the city tumbled. At least 10 army trucks and several bulldozers charged into the community Sunday to begin cleanup, while the people in nearby Isle of Youth remained in complete darkness as every single TV, electric and mobile phone tower fell.

''The devil came through here,'' said Juan Carlos Rodríguez, who works for the municipal school management office and spent the night guarding the building. ``It swept it completely.''

Gustav made landfall in Cuba on Saturday evening as a Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph winds and gusts up to 212 mph, Cuban meteorologists said, sweeping by in just four hours and leaving a path of devastation. In a testament to the Cuban government's unparalleled hurricane preparedness system, no deaths were reported.

Some 250,000 people had been evacuated in four provinces.

According to Olga Lidia Tapia, President of Pinar del Río civil defense committee, 86,000 homes were damaged, 80 electric towers and 600 electric posts fell.

''Many people cannot go back to their homes because they lost them,'' she said on the nightly news program Mesa Redonda, adding that people are building makeshift shelters with whatever materials they could find.

In the Isle of Youth, municipal defense committee president Ana Isa Delgado phoned in to the news show: ``Regarding housing, everything has been affected. All towns.''

Vicente de la O, who heads Cuba's electric company, said that a total of 136 electric towers toppled over. In a previous hurricane, 30 towers were damaged and it took 15 days to restore service, but he said he hoped to have service restored in 10 to 12 days in Pinar del Rio Province.

The situation in the Isle of Youth was much worse.

''100 percent of the electrical grid is damaged,'' de la O said. ``Totally destroyed.''

In Los Palacios, Pinar del Rio Province, Rodríguez estimated that 90 percent of the homes were affected, as well as about half of the electric infrastructure.

''This is very sad. It's unbearable to watch,'' a woman in Paso Real said, as she burst into tears and walked away without giving her name.

An elderly man gathered pieces of clay tile. A few blocks ahead, a woman swept her wet front porch. There was no flooding in Los Palacios, but the rain seeped into many homes and also fell directly into roofless houses.

''It was horrendous,'' said Alberto García, a 68-year-old retiree.

Along the highway to Pinar del Río, tree branches partially blocked the road, and a twisted mass of electric towers lay on the ground like a row of fallen dominoes as far as the eye could see.

The force of the wind decimated entire fields of banana trees. At a police control station, all the lamp posts toppled over and the metal mobile structure lay upside down in a ditch.

In San Cristóbal, fallen branches and tree trunks blocked the main street into the town. Many houses lost their roofs or were flooded.

In other destruction in Los Palacios, debris was scattered everywhere on the wet streets, in many cases blocking the roads with tree branches, downed power lines, tiles, masonry from ornamental columns, pieces of wood, doors, phone booths and corrugated metal sheets that once served as roofs.

Oddly, a community garden stood unharmed, its vegetable rows lined up in perfect order. Dogs and chicken roamed the streets.

The main school building lost all its windows on the upper floor, and authorities postponed the start of school until next week.

''It will take us at least six months to get back to a basic level of infrastructure,'' Rodríguez said.

There was no electricity, no gas, no fuel and no water, although Rodríguez said residents had enough drinking water stored for 72 hours.

''I stayed in my closet with my two children and prayed the whole time,'' said Mabel Ayerbe, a 36 year-old housewife and mother of two boys, ages 5 and 6. ``The little one was crying and the older one wanted to see the wind. The first pass took about two hours. Then, we were in the eye for some 45 minutes and the weather was totally clear. After the eye it lost some strength, but the first pass was violent.''

Gustav traveled about 100 miles when it entered Cajio and left the city of La Palma at 9:10 p.m., the state media said. The eye crossed at a speed of 11 miles an hour and was 37 miles wide.

The government media said the damage was so bad, the name ''Gustav'' may have to get scratched off the list of potential future hurricanes -- a move only taken in the worst of natural disasters.

''I don't want to see this again. It was terrible,'' Ayerbe said. ''We no longer call this Los Palacios. It is now The Ruins. We Cubans are optimists. We'll see how we work it out and p'alante!'' -- onward!


Isle of Youth special municipality province - Isla de Pinos part of the smaller Isla de Pinos archipelago. Area: 1180 Square Miles, 3,056 Square Kilos. Estimated pop 100,000. Capital City Nueva Gerona.


Gustav Showed No Mercy on the Isle of Youth.

La Habana Cuba, Aug 30, Gustav left disaster as it passed over the
Isle of Youth, said the acn correspondent in that territory, Ana Esther
Zulueta, minutes after the category 4 Hurricane left that special
municipality, south of Havana.

"We have received the combined effect of wind, rain and flooding,"
said our correspondent in a phone conversation with our editors. She
said that the winds reached 224 kilometers per hour with heavy rain, "but
the extraordinary event was the overflowing of the Las Casas River which
entered the city of Nueva Gerona, an unprecedented development, which
affected homes near the river," Zulueta said.

Ivette Avila, a neighbour in Gerona, said she had to hurry out of her
home through a window with her husband and two children in order to
escape the flooding of the place, said Zulueta.

Preliminary analysis shows that the sea penetrated through the mouth of
the river causing the flooding. Meteorologists had foreseen a series of
waves of up to four meter high, though such waves may have been higher
than that, Zulueta explained.

As the eye of Gustav crossed over the northern section of the isle,
which lasted an hour, the front part of the hurricane caused
significant damage. Some trees look as if they had been burned in a
fire and many houses lost their windows and doors, said the acn
correspondent.

Although no fatalities have been reported the situation is really
critical, the correspondent concluded.

In the Isle of Pines, The damage is extensive, said Ana Isa Delgado, who explained that facilities that seemed very strong sustained much damaged and that buses that were in parking lots were lifted by the winds, some of
which were mangled.Boats in the middle of the streets. However, no deaths have been reported, though the situation was very complicated as not all areas had been reached through the communication lines.

Delgado also said that some injured people were being treated in the
municipal hospital, though none of them were in a serious condition,
She also said that thoroughfares are in a poor condition with debris
and parts of damaged windows and doors and other obstacles blocking
the streets.

According to the director of the local electrical company, 200 kilometers of electrical lines were destroyed, 600 electrical posts were swept or torn apart. Transformers blew out. The hole island is in the dark.

The economic damages have yet to be assed. The damage to the local transportation system has been substantial. The agricultural losses of equipment, Plantains, Tobacco and other harvests have been extensive.

Our government and people give thanks all of our fellow nations that have pledged thier aid and man & women power during these harsh times.

Our closest island port to the affected areas at the moment is the port of Nuevitas in the province of Camaguey, most ships should use this one. Due to communication problems we are unable at the moment to give you better directions and information. We are sure your expert sailors know the way by the smell of the sea.

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

Monday Sept 01, 2008

TO: Socialist Democratic Republic of La Habana Cuba
FROM: Vamperial Kingdom of Lynion, King Micheal

We have just heard of the hurricane that has passed through your country. Our hearts go out to the people of your nation that are in desperate need of everday supplies. Because of this, we're willing to dispatch some medical supplies, basic supplies and other supplies. All of which will be watched by our Diggers of our Defence Force. Attach to this telegram is a small report of what we intend to send.

160 tons of food supplies
200,000x2L bottles of water
45,000 4 man tents
Medical supplies, doctors and nurses
12xBulldozers
Building equipment
140,000 litres of petrol
500 Generators
300 Military Trucks and Jeeps

All of which will be transport by the Lynion and Imperial Fungi navies and transported by our freighters.

The Griffincrest Corporation's humanitarian arm had been out of action for far too long, and now seemedlike the perfect time for old Claudius to bring it back, spread some good in the world, and use it to boost sales, as well as his reputation. The Forrestal Class Carrier GNS Action, as well as a handful f other, smaller, support ships began making their way towards the zone devastated by the hurricane. Aboard the Action were tonnes upon tonnes of supplies, as well as highly trained doctors, surgeons, therapists, engineers, and anyone else whose presence might be required in the area.

http://myweb.cableone.net/bschott/Playerdoc/GC5.jpg

Dear Governments of Disaster Zones,

The Griffincrest Corporation is deploying Carrier Group Action to the area to begin humanitarian aide missions. We are brining in food, water, generators and specialists, who will begin rebuilding and providing care for those affected by the hurricane. We hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

Claudius Griffincrest

[OOC: BC, I just looked back at this after Midland...but you've already killed one of my intel analysts with your selflessness, stop it. You're supposed to be mean, greedy, and jingoist. This turn is going cause the world to spin off its axis. I'm tired, so I'll RP the RPdron more tomorrow.]

OOC: I actually lol'd at that hahaha.

Hurricane Ike is projected to be coming sometime monday over the same eastern provinces. May include Camaguey and Las Villas (Santa Clara) Provinces regions. May actually travel across all LHC Provinces.

PINAR DEL RÍO Province La Habana Cuba, A single figure illustrates the magnitude of the problem. Hurricane Gustav damaged almost as many homes here as the 14 hurricanes that have hit this province in the last eight years in their totality.

Over that period, 102,000 homes in Pinar del Rio — 45% of all housing — were damaged to some extent.

According to preliminary estimates, 90,000 were affected this time without counting the municipality of Bahía Honda, which was still cut off from communication on the evening of Monday, September 1.

The worst devastation was in the eastern half of the province, with Los Palacios in the most critical situation. According to a report from the Municipal Defense Council, 10,000 of 13,000 homes were affected, and 6,000 collapsed completely.

Neighboring municipalities were in a similar situation. San Cristóbal, for example, has reported 11,000 homes damaged so far.

Teams of experts from the Ministry of Housing have been making a case-by-case assessment since Monday the 1st to get an accurate picture of the situation and what is needed for rebuilding.

Construction materials continued to arrive as did specialized teams of workers from other provinces and nations mostly carpenters and roofers.

Authorities ordered immediate distribution of resources to the families affected. It was also decided to give as much priority possible to the least complicated cases to avoid lesser damage becoming larger as a result of delays.

State facilities were also severely damaged.

Obviously it will not be possible for the school year — already delayed for one week — to begin on that date in some places. The Defense Council has instructed staff at each school to evaluate their situation.

Given this complex situation, the Provincial Bureau of the LHC Communist Party has called on the people of Pinar del Rio to take on the challenge of rebuilding their province with the same determination that has always characterized them, this time in face of a much greater phenomenon.

Hurricane Watch Issued for Eastern Cuba as Ike Gets Closer

La Habana Cuba, Sept 6, 2008. Cuba’s National Defense Staff declared the Alert stage (watch), today at four p.m., for the eastern provinces of Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Holguin, Las Tunas and Camaguey in the face of the possible track of hurricane Ike.

The Central Provinces of Ciego de Avila, Villa Clara, Sancti Spiritus, Cienfuegos and Matanzas are currently in the Informative stage, since hurricane Ike may affect the whole country.

Ike is a dangerous hurricane category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale currently approaching the northern coast of eastern Cuba. The storm maintains 215-km per hour winds with higher gusts. Over the next 12 to 24 hours Ike will continue to move west-southwest at some 24 km per hour.

The latest forecast by the National Hurricane Center of Miami Shores Ike remained a relatively compact storm Saturday, with hurricane-force winds extending 45 miles from its center and tropical storm-force winds extending up to 140 miles outward.

It could then track across much of the length of Cuba for a day and half before leaving the island on Tuesday as a Category 1 or 2 storm. Cuban authorities, reeling from Hurricane Gustav last week, issued a hurricane watch for provinces Guantánamo, Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Holguín, Las Tunas and Camagüey -- and began evacuating tourists and residents of some low-lying areas.

Late Saturday, Ike's eye was projected to stay about 100 to 150 miles south and west of Key West. points Ike on a western course, likely rolling over the Turks and Caicos and Great Inagua Island on Sunday before reaching Cuba's northeast coast late that night or early Monday.

In Cuba, authorities began issuing warnings to residents and said they would evacuate some 200 tourists from the resort of Santa Lucía, Cuban radio reported. Residents were being evacuated from low lying areas along the northeast coast of Camagüey province where Ike could make landfall. Students sent to work on the coffee harvest in mountainous areas were being withdrawn to safer ground, LHC Granma newspaper reported.

The U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, was under hurricane watch and on alert for destructive winds this weekend.


La Habana Cuba, Dec 2007 population 11,236,490. Area 44,218 Square Miles, 114,525 Square Kilometers.

Provinces in order.

01. Isle of Youth, Isla de Pinos special municipal Province.
02. Pinar del Rio.
03. La Habana City Province.
04. La Habana Province.
05. Matanzas.
06. Cienfuegos.
07. Villa Clara, Las Villas, Santa Clara.
08. Sancti Espiritus.
09. Ciego de Avila.
10. Camaguey.
11. Las Tunas.
12. Granma.
13. Holguin.
14. Santiago de Cuba.
15. Guantanamo.

To: Foreign Affairs Minister, Felipe Perez Roque, Socialist Democratic Republic of La Habana Cuba.

After Hurricane Gustav passed through your country and has crippled the Province of Camaguey, we feel that it is our duty to help support your nation. We are going to send the following Royal Grasalandik Navy Ships with aid to your country:

HMGS Kelik LPD 86, Absalon Class LPD - 1x Merlin HM1 Helicopter
HMGS Trondheim MH-118, Mercy Class Hospital Ship
HMGS Kolding AO-103, Wave Class Fleet Auxiliaries Ship - 1x Merlin HM1 Helicopter
HMGS Ørland D74 / HMGS Lafjord D61 De Zeven Provincien Class Frigates - 2x Merlin HM1 Helicopter

Report of Incoming Aid:

1,400 Aid Workers
2,500 Containers full of Pre-packed Food
20,000 Tents of Different Sizes
15 Prefab Mutli-use Buildings
5000 Toilet / Washroom Blocks
1 Large Semi-Permanent Prefab Hospital with Helicopter landing strip
250 Prefab Surgical Units
500 Medical Containers full of Medical Supplies
1,000 Water Tanks

With Regards

Sofia Röhl
Secretary of Trade & Development

Aboard the rescue patrol vessel CNS Mercy
Running South-Southwest of Cuba

Commander Herschel Whispergale looked up from the feed the Naval Office was sending to the Mercy from Tanaaran weather satellites. He looked back aft and watched crewmen out on the helipad double checking the tiedowns on the Seahawk that was roosting there.

This storm had a potential to be more damaging as it would go across the barracuda shaped island bow to stern. The irony that he and RVdron Two had been dispatched to assist after Gustav and now RVdron Four was sprinting hard south before they'd even had a chance to perform any part of their mission.

He turned back towards the bow and over the 57mm cannon. The widn was beginning to whip the sea up into a foaming spray. As much as he wanted to help the people of La Habana Cuba, he had a greater duty to Catawaba and his crews to ensure that his ten Saviour RPVs came through okay.

Whispergale took off his cap and ran a hand through his black hair. He turned to the Mercy's commanding officer, Lieutenant Sydney Pirotti. "Sid, I'm going below. Give a shout if Ike changes course further south." Pirotti nodded and moved to check on the seaman keeping a watch over the waters with binoculars for any small boats in distress.

Whispergale went to the hatch at back of the bridge and paused a moment to touch the Mercy's crest. The crest showed a magnificently beautiful, golden haired angel bursting from turbulent waters. One of her arms was across the chest of a shipwrecked sailor holding him above the water. The other was held aloft, a shining beacon erupting from her palm as a signal to the Mercy whose bow was breaching over a wave as it rushed to the rescue. The angel had not just a striking resemblance to the Tanaaran Ambassdress to Catawaba Mercedez Hexx (http://www.atddm.com/TanRoy.htm) but was artistic representation of the Ambassdress. Recongnized through out the country as staunch ally of Catawaba and the consort of its ruler, the Alpha Miraade Errant Mira'ad, Mercy, as she is affectionately known, instantly became the matron and honorary commander of the RPV from the moment they chose the name for their ship.

The crew treated this image reverantly, a sort of good luck charm. Whispergale understood the appeal. When you head out into the teeth of a squall when everyone else is running back in, any edge you thought you had over the Sea was a godsend. If the Ambassadress became the ship's symbolic spirit and matron saint, well, Whispergale didn't see anything wrong with it. He figured she'd demurely turn aside any thought that she was divinely connected, but he didn't think she'd ask them to stop.

The commander looked back at the Sea as it boiled up fury at the edge of Ike. No, you couldn't fault someone for trying to find some courage in the face of that. Whispergale stepped the hatch with a last comforting pat over the angel of Mercy's wardring arm.

From: Commander Herschel Whispergale, commander Rescue Patrol Squadron Two
To:Felipe Perez Roque,Foreign Affairs Minister

Sir,

I am currently moving my squadron to a position south of your island and out of the path of Hurricane Ike. I am sorry that any relief operation must wait until I can guarantee the safety of my crews.

I am sorry for the delay, but do not worry. We will not abandon you.

Cmdr. Herschel Whispergale, CO RPVdron Two

(I guess it's okay if my Squad is already on land? If not I'll delete this and make a new post)

With Gustav passing, now Ike was on it's way. No rest for the weary. CDA was no stranger to Hurricanes either. The Squad of both Military and young volunteers was here to help. If needed they would stay for the entire duration of the Hurricane season. They helped locals sand bag and get ready for more rough weather. Abel and his girlfriend Adelina came from a coastal farm village. They knew the power of hurricanes and the terrible effects on farms and cities they had. They were currently sandbagging like crazy to fend of water, but storm surge may prove their efforts to be futile.

The Ixanian Empire has decided to show our support of the Cuban people during these tragic times by sending three ships filled with all sorts of supplies including food and blankets which we hope shall be of good use to the people affected by the wrath of Nature. These ships also have materials for the reconstruction of essential buildings such as hospitals. We hope that your nation can endure the hurricane(s) and be able to rebuild.

Signed,
Ivan Rucinsky,
Foreign Minister

Diplomatic Note delivered through the Ministry of Foreing Affairs of Neo-Ixania to the LHC government from Miami Shores.

While the government of Miami Shores does not have economic, political and social relations with the government of La Habana Cuba. As we are arch enemys for obvious reasons.

We are willing to send Hurricane aid of all kinds through international relief agencys. Catholic and Jewish churches based on Miami Shores. Through the WA World Assembly as well.

Organizations whom in the past have been allowed by the LHC government to send aid.

Thousands of Miami Shorerians have collected, food, water bottles, utencils, clothes, blankets, medicines and tents, building materials and equipment. As well family $ donations to be sent at a moments notice.

During Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike affecting your nation.

Foreing Affair Minister, Elian Gonzalez
National Council of Ministers.
Hispanic Republic of Miami Shores.

As of yet we have not received a response from the LHC Governmet. However the foreign Ministry of Neo-Ixania with whom they have excellent economic, political and social relations with assures us a diplomatic note of response from the LHC government should be recieved withinn about an hour or so.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Elian Gonzalez. 10:45 PM Miami Shores Time.

Diplomatic Note delivered through the Ministry of Foreing Affairs of Neo-Ixania to the LHC government from Miami Shores.

While the government of Miami Shores does not have economic, political and social relations with the government of La Habana Cuba. As we are arch enemys for obvious reasons.

We are willing to send Hurricane aid of all kinds through international relief agencys. Catholic and Jewish churches based on Miami Shores. Through the WA World Assembly as well.

Organizations whom in the past have been allowed by the LHC government to send aid.

Thousands of Miami Shorerians have collected, food, water bottles, utencils, clothes, blankets, medicines and tents, building materials and equipment. As well family $ donations to be sent at a moments notice.

During Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike affecting your nation.

Foreing Affair Minister, Elian Gonzalez
National Council of Ministers.
Hispanic Republic of Miami Shores.

Diplomatic Note received from the government of La Habana Cuba through the Ministry of Foreign Affaris of Neo-Ixania.

The government of La Habana Cuba appreciates the expressions of sorrow and support for our people during Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

The government of Miami Shores should allow the sale to Cuba of essential goods and lift the restrictions preventing private Miami Shore Corporations from offering private commercial loans and credits to the government of La Habana Cuba so we can purchase foodstuffs from Miami Shores.

Should lift the family travel time restrictions through third nations. As well as the travel restrictions of Miami Shorerians of non La Habana Cuban descent and tourists in general. Lift the limit of family remittances $, allow more care packages.

Establish direct, full, economic, political and social relations between our nations. We await an official response from the government of Miami Shores within an hour or so. 11:55 PM La Habana Cuba time.

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

President Raul Castro Ruz
Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz.

Diplomatic Note received from the govenment of Miami Shores through the foreign Ministry of Neo-Ixania.

While we are willing to send all kinds of aid through International relief agencys, such as the red cross, the WA World Assembly, Catholic and Jewish churches based on Miami Shores.

The recent default of the LHC government's $ 2 Billion, 274 Million in loans and credits from the government of Japan's private banks and corporations for import debts. A debt of $ 15 Billion, 438 Mllion in 2006, not counting $ 22 billion to your former Soviet Union ally not withstanding.

The government of La Habana Cuba should release all of its native citizen political dissident prisoners within Cuba not exile.

Allow full freedoms of the press, assembly and religion.

Allow muliti political party elections to the La Habana Cuba National Assembly Parliment NAP.

Offering different ecomomic, political and social views. So that all La Habana Cuban citizens different views be represented and respected in thier National Assembly Parliment NAP.

Until such time reconciliation between our governments should not happen.

The yearly Balsero Rafter crisis that may yet cause war between our nations of Miami Shores and LHC. Despite your nation's gpvernment trading with most other nations of the world than our own, would end.

The limited travel time restrictions can then be repealed alltogether. Miami Shorerian family and tourists from both nations can visit each other without restrictions from either side. Care packages and family remittances $ can be received with no limits, already at 1200 per year, an awesome figure.

Miami Shorerian loans and credits can then be given. Private Miami Shorerian and native La Habana Cuban investments in each others nations can then be possible and welcomed.

We are still willing and able too send the aid collected of food, water bottles, utencils, clothes, blankets, medicines and tents, building materials and equipment. As well family $ donations from thousands of Miami Shorerians if allowed to do so.

Foreing Affairs Minister, Elian Gonzalez
National Council of Ministers
Hispanic Republic of Miami Shores.

There is heavy debate between Miami Shorerian diplomatic personell within the Ministry of Foreing Affairs as to the continued response or not of diplomatic notes exchanged thorough the Neo-ixanian Foreing Ministry. Thier last diplomatic note left uncleared if the welcomed aid would still be accepted if no full diplomatic, economic and social relations were to be established betweem our two nations.

Foreing Affairs Minister, Elian Gonzalez.

Part 1:

Besieged By Hurricanes

We had hardly recovered from the emotional impact and material damages caused by the unexpectedly strong winds of hurricane Gustav on the Isla de la Juventud and Pinar del Rio, when news were received of sea floods caused by Hanna. Then, the worst news of all: that the very intense hurricane Ike, turning southwest under pressure from a strong anti-hurricane system located north of its course, would strike heavily over 625 miles throughout the national territory.

This means, in fact, that the entire country will be impacted by the three hurricanes; and some places will be hit twice.

What will happen with the bananas, fruits and vegetables in the intensive-farming areas? What will happen with the cultivation of beans and other grains? What will happen with the sugarcane and rice plantations? What will happen with the poultry, pork and milk production centers? The entire nation is now in what in military terms is defined as combat alert.

The problems raised in the reflection which defined Gustav as a nuclear strike have multiplied. At this moment we are besieged by hurricanes.

Part 2:

Hurricane Ike Strikes La Habana Cuba, waves 50 foot high. Waves covering over high buildings near the coast of La Habana City Province. The famous Sea Wall Malecon.

Ike made landfall Sunday evening on the north coast of the province of Holguin, near Cabo Lucrecia.

After making landfall at 10 p.m. Sunday night in the proximity of Cabo Lucrecia, on the northern coast of the province of Holguin, Hurricane Ike moved westward towards the provinces of Las Tunas and Camaguey early Monday morning.

Cuba’s chief meteorologist, Dr. Jose Rubiera, head of the Forecasting Center of the National Institute of Meteorology, reported that shortly before the hurricane made landfall, wind gusts of 194 km/h were registered in Banes and 130 km/h in Moa, Holguin.

The province of Guantanamo was already reporting coastal flooding by Sunday afternoon with waves reaching five to six meters and flooding one kilometer inland. Landslides blocked parts of the La Farola viaduct, and wind gusts reaching 132 km/h in the city of Guantanamo brought down trees and electricity poles. The town of Palenque de Yateras registered 138 millimeters of rain in less than 24 hours.

Ike hit the island of LH Cuba as a category 3 hurricane with sustained maximum winds of 195 km/h and a minimum pressure of 945 mb. Model forecasts show Ike moving in a west-northwest direction at 15 mph, crossing a good part of Cuba before heading out to sea over the next 36 hours, at a yet undetermined point in the western region.

Part 3:

Over a Million Hurricane Evacuees :

Over 1.23 million people have been evacuated in La Habana Cuba to protect them from powerful hurricane Ike, accirdubg ti Col. Jose Ernesto Betancourt, from the Civil Defense General Staff on Monday.

In his appearance on the evening radio and TV show The LHC Round Table, Betancourt said that over 925,000 evacuees were staying with friends or relatives, while the rest are at evacuation centers. The total figure of evacuees represents 12 percent of the entire Cuba population. Likewise, 10,263 foreign tourists were relocated before the passing of Ike.

The official also said that 150,000 boarding school students returned to their homes around the country, noting there were no accidents to regret in this process.

Col. Betancourt announced that nationwide there are 81,000 Cubans mobilized to protect the population from the harmful effects of hurricane Ike, and preserve life. Those include 2,400 Army troops.

He added that 1,274 kitchens provide food for over 2,000 shelters and seven thousand vehicles were made available for transportation. He also referred to the special characteristics of this hurricane season with a new record of two hurricanes just eight days apart.

Pinar del Río province and Isla de la Juventud (Isla de Pinos archipelago) municipality are still recovering from hurricane Gustav and now they are already in the hurricane warning phase with the approach of Ike.

Part 4:

Ike Leaves 4 Dead in LHC Cuba at First Count.

Civil defense authorities reported Monday that four Cuban citizens died as a consequence of the passing of Hurricane Ike through Cuba.

Pedro Corso Soto, 76, and Ángel Sánchez Cabello, 35, residents of Rancho Veloz, a town in the Corralillo municipality of Villa Clara province, died when they were trying to dismantle a TV antenna, which fell on the electric lines, and electrocuted them.

Pascual Villafaña Rivera, 35, resident of the city of Camaguey, was hit by a wall of his house which collapsed under the impact of a fallen tree. Carmelina Diéguez Santiesteban, 74, resident of El Negro town, in Banes, Holguin, was inside her home when it collapsed under the heavy winds.

This report of fatalities is preliminary since it doesn't include information from all affected places.

The Civil Defense authorities extended their condolences to the family and friends of the deceased persons and called on the population to follow the protective measures indicated by the local officials to prevent regrettable events like these

Part 5:

Ike Causes Heavy Damage in Camagüey, Cuba

CAMAGÜEY Cuba, Hurricane Ike seriously affected the province of Camaguey during the seven hours it took to cross the province- it finally moved west by way of a point on the southern coast close to neighboring Ciego de Avila Province.

The hurricane severely damaged homes, schools, warehouses, and service and productive facilities, said local civil defense authorities.

Electric poles and transmission towers were also heavily affected as well as communication lines and antennas.

In the city of Nuevitas, to the north coast of Camaguey, both homes and the port's warehouses suffered great damage, while hotels and tourism- related facilities were also severely affected at Santa Lucia Beach.

Even though Ike is currently located in the Gulf of Ana Maria, south off Ciego de Avila, the rains continue to affect the territory causing the flooding of the Hatibonico River, one of the two rivers that cross the city of Camaguey.

The situation led to the evacuation of more than 3,000 people from the nearby neighborhoods in the middle of the rain, in addition to more than 227,000 people who had been already taken to safe places.

In related news, Ike's strong gusts have also been felt in Ciego de Avila, were plantations of four large farms were devastated, especially banana cultivations.

In addition, roof damage was reported in the municipalities of Baragua, Venezuela and Majagua.

Among the preventive measures taken in Ciego de Avila were the storage of irrigation equipment in safe places, dismantling of 294 vegetable growing semi-covered infrastructures and securing 500 wind mills, which contributed to minimize the damages.

Also, more than 215,000 persons, over half the total inhabitants of the province, were evacuated.

River Floods Hit Camaguey City

Shortly after midday on Monday, the Tinima and Hatibonico rivers, which cross this city, began to go beyond their banks and by five in the afternoon they were causing severe flooding.

Province and Municipality Defense Councils, along with army troops and other rescue teams, are working intensely to evacuate more people due to the magnitude of the floods.

It has not stopped raining in the entire province of Camaguey since 11 p.m. Sunday, causing soil saturation. Meanwhile, strong winds continue.

There are over 200,000 evacuees in this central province, power is out, and there are is considerable damage to roads and electric lines due to fallen trees.

Coastal flooding plus heavy rains are reported in Nuevitas, Santa Cruz del Sur and Santa Lucia beach resort. The later was cut off both by land and telephone.

Part 6:

Hurricane Ike Sweeps Eastern Cuba

Hurricane Ike has caused major damage to homes and agriculture in the eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Holguin and Las Tunas, according to local preliminarily report Effects of Ike Felt in Eastern Locality of Baracoa.

The strong winds of Ike have caused severe damage in the easternmost locality of Baracoa, in Guantanamo province, where tens of thousand citizens have been evacuated.

In a phone conversation during the prime-time TV show the “ LHC Mesa Redonda”, the president of the Provincial Defense Council in Guantanamo, Luis Antonio Torres said that the effects of Ike have already caused damage to over 970 homes, 207 of which were totally destroyed.

Reporters in the area confirmed that Ike brought high waves and floods, as well as landslides. No human victims were reported, only 7 citizens resulted slightly injured.

The effects on Baracoa occurred as Ike has not yet landed on Cuban national territory. The storm is very close to eastern Cuba and it is expected to make a landfall on eastern Holguin province later tonight.

Col. Jose E. Betancourt, head of the Risk Reduction Department of the National Civil Defense Council, noted that in spite of the loss, measures taken to preserve human life and to minimize the negative effects on the economy have been effective.

Santiago de Cuba's municipalities of Guama and Segundo Frente are cut off by rivers that have flooded several localities in the area. Of the nine reservoirs in the area, seven are releasing waters, as an average of 96 percent of the total capacity has been already collected.

Northern coastal towns in Las Tunas Province, Jesus Menendez, Puerto Padre and Manati were also severely hit by the hurricane. Ike's winds caused serious damage to houses, banana plantations, schools and health centers and buildings related to the local economy.

Betancourt stressed that a hurricane warning remains in Cuba's central and western provinces, including the capital La Habana City Province, and now includes the westernmost province of Pinar del Rio and the special municipality of Isla de La Juventud. (Isla de Pinos)

Rains associated with hurricane Ike continue to affect eastern Cuba, while the eye of the hurricane is back to the sea moving toward the west off the southern coast of the island at a speed of around 14 mph. A turn toward the west-northwest should begin later today. At 6:00 p.m. on Monday hurricane Ike was located 100 kilometers southwest of Cienfuegos.

Part 7:

Holguin Province, Severely Damaged by Ike

The Eastern Cuban province of Holguin is one of the most severely affected by the passing of Hurricane Ike, which greatly damaged communications, power supplies and tourist facilities in its territory.

Miguel Díaz- Canel Bermúdez, First secretary of the LHC Holguin Communist Party reported over the phone to the National television program the LHC Round Table, the amount and severity of damages in the eastern province.

Díaz- Canel highlighted that the territories affected the most by the winds and rains are Gibara, Moa, Rafael Freyre, Banes and the capital city municipalities. Among the main damages caused by the meteor are fallen trees blocking roads, power interruptions though that situation is improving thanks to the use of small power plants.

Also the communication systems suffered damages, especially the transmitting towers, which wreaked havoc in the mobile phones; besides the hotel facilities were affected in the tourist pole in Guardalavaca and Pesquero Beach.

The head of the Civil Defense highlighted the recovery actions that started immediately after the passing of Hurricane Ike when the resources started to arrive in the territory.

He also praised the work of health professionals who didn’t stop their work and they are already on the recovery actions to restore medical services in the province.

Post 8:

Posted on Mon, Sep. 08, 2008.
BY ELAINE DEVALLE, (Elena DEVALLE) RENATO PEREZ AND FRANCES ROBLES
Miami Shorerian Herald.

A woman stands in her house, destroyed by Hurricane Ike, in Baracoa, Guantanamo Province, on September 8, 2008. Cuba raised its hurricane alert level to maximum for the capital La Habana as deadly Hurricane Ike raged westward across the island towards the city of 2.2 million people, Cuban state television announced.

On the Web | Dramatic CNN video of waves crashing into Baracoa, Cuba

Storm surges and overflowing rivers flooded neighborhoods and wind ripped roofs off as Hurricane Ike tore through eastern Cuba Monday, weakened, then spiraled toward La Habana City Province and western provinces slammed by Gustav last week.

As preparations were under way in the capital, authorities began evaluating damage caused by Ike's strike in the east, where the storm entered Sunday night as a Category 3 hurricane that sent five-story-high waves smashing against seaside buildings and plunged much of the country into darkness.

Three rivers overflowed in Camagüey, sending water rising up to 15 feet above normal levels and forcing authorities to use amphibious vehicles to evacuate not only residents but people who had fled there from the coast.

Four deaths were reported on the island as of late Monday. In Las Tunas province, where 18 people were hurt, the state-run media said the losses were ``unprecedented.''

The Cuban government put La Habana and already battered Pinar del Río and Isla de Pinos Archipelago provinces under hurricane warning, suspending storm cleanup there in anticipation of Ike's arrival Tuesday afternoon.

More than 1.2 million people were evacuated.

On Tuesday, Ike is expected to move west along the southern coast of Matanzas province, across the Gulf of Batabanó, and cut across the island in a northwest direction, between Pinar del Río province and Habana province. Forecasts put the Category 1 Ike and its 80 mph winds as close as 50 miles west of La Habana the country's capital of 2.1 million people.

A strike on La Habana City Province would be disastrous for Cuba. Many people there live in overcrowded and crumbling old buildings, some of which have collapsed during heavy rainfall.

''This has been huge. We had never seen a hurricane of such an intensity,'' said Mabel Santana, 60, of Central Delicias, a town of around 35,000 in Las Tunas province. ``This town has disappeared. The majority of the homes were wood with zinc roofs, but most of the roofs were over 60 years old. My house lost the roof. I cannot live in it. It is very terrible to lose your home, knowing you won't get it back.''

Santana is married to jailed dissident Alfredo Domínguez Batista, one of 75 government opponents arrested during an island-wide crackdown in 2003. She said her husband knows nothing of what happened to their home, to her, their two children or 6-year-old grandson.

''I will have to wait until Wednesday around 1 p.m., when they give him 20 minutes to talk on the phone, to tell him that he lost his home,'' she said.

``Trees are blocking the roads. There are no roads. There is nothing.''

In Santa Cruz del Sur in Camagüey province, state media said the sea had penetrated nearly a half-mile inland. Neighborhoods surrounding the River Jatibonico were flooded. The industrial port city of Nuevitas suffered serious damage, as did Sierra de Cubitas and the city of Camagüey, Cuba's LHC Adelante newspaper reported.

''The old houses couldn't take it and collapsed,'' Manolo Banegas said in a telephone interview from Camagüey. ``Many of the rivers are overflowing in the outskirts of the city. In the suburbs, streets are even more flooded.''

Also in the central part of Camagüey, there were reports that the wind blew the roof off the historic theater built in 1850. The cultural center and bank were also seriously damaged, and the cupolas of historic buildings were smashed.

''It sounded like a cat in a lot of pain,'' Elena Martínez said by telephone from Camagüey.

Her husband climbed their roof early Monday to survey damage and saw torn roofs for several blocks.

LHC Radio Reloj reported 10,000 homes damaged in Guantánamo. Initial reports from the island also said there was ''severe'' damage but no loss of life in Santiago de Cuba ( City & Province names) In Guantánamo, 200,000 banana trees were razed, according to the government newspapers.

Idel Marrero, a civil defense official for the city of Río Cauto in Granma, told the Cuban newspaper LHC Demajagua that the sugar industry and other agricultural installations suffered serious blows.

''At the December 15 factory, the largest producer of food here, the bananas are on the floor,'' Marrero said, adding that the sugar cane crops were also ruined.

The head of the civil defense council in Camagüey said Ike caused devastating losses to government buildings and homes in Nuevitas, on the country's north coast, at Puerto de Tarafa and to tourist hotels on Santa Lucía beach.

A storm surge and coastal flooding in the lower parts of the area also affected the tourist resort on Punta de Ganado beach.

Many trees in the Casino Campestre forest park were toppled, according to Cuban news reports. Las Leyendas Park was ``practically destroyed.''

''In my whole life, I've never seen anything like this,'' Juan Carlos Figueira, 40, said in a telephone interview from Holguín. ``There are many houses partially knocked down, trees are knocked down. There are many telephone lines on the ground. We don't have electricity since yesterday and don't know when we will get it back, because many posts are down.''

Civil defense teams began to evaluate the damage in the morning and found fallen trees, electric cables and transformers, partial or total crumbling of homes, roofless homes and schools, doors, windows and walls.

In Baracoa, just a few miles southeast of where Ike entered the island at Punta Lucrecia, seven people were injured, but none seriously, according to early Radio Habana reports.

''With no sensationalism, I can say the damages were serious,'' Luis A. Torres Iríbar, president of Guantánamo's civil defense council, said on Cuba's television news show, LHC Mesa Redonda. ``The damages in Baracoa were numerous, especially to homes. There are 1,086 homes damaged, of that 346 could be considered total losses.''

Landslides blocked access to the cities of Maisí and Moa, where radio reports said there was a lot of damage.

A LHC Radio Rebelde correspondent in Holguín said telecommunication posts fell and ``land phone and cellphone communications are impossible.''

The head of Guantánamo's civil defense was shown on state television motivating residents by telling them how the mountains helped weaken the storm.

''We Guantánameros slowed Ike down!'' Luís Antonio Torres said.

Miami Shorerian Herald writer Liza Gross contributed to this report.

Part 9.

La Habana Cuba official government report released on Monday on the damages caused by hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which hit the nation between August 30th and September 9th.

According to the report, the combined actions of the winds, rains and flooding caused by these two hurricanes Gustav and Ike resulted in the most devastating effects in the history of this kind of natural disasters in Cuba.

After recalling that, due to the trajectory of both hurricanes, all the provinces of the nation were threatened and even suffered the direct impact of Gustav and Ike, the report notes that, in all, 3 179 846 people were evacuated – 2 772 615 of them due to hurricane Ike.

The note adds that although there were no human losses during hurricane Gustav, seven people died in different provinces not only due to the direct effects of hurricane Ike but also for not observing the protection measures oriented by the National Civil Defense.

Material Losses

According to the report, preliminary figures indicate economic losses to the tune of $ five billion dollars.

Undoubtedly, the report notes, some of the worst consequences left by Gustav and Ike were in the housing sector with more than 444,000 houses ravaged, including partial and complete losses of roofs. In all, 63,249 houses collapsed.

The most severe damages took place in the provinces of Pinar del Rio, Holguin, Las Tunas and Camaguey as well as in Isla de Pinos Archipelago Province (Isle of Youth Special Municipality).

Main Damages Caused by Gustav in Other Sectors

Preliminary assessments show that the main damages caused by Gustav took place in the Isle of Youth Special Municipality province and in Pinar del Rio province, particularly in the municipalities of San Cristobal, Los Palacios, Consolacion del Sur, Viñales, La Palma, Minas de Matahambre, Candelaria and Bahia Honda.

The situation is critical in 120,105 houses in Pinar del Rio, mainly in Los Palacios and San Cristobal. Likewise, associated to the damages caused to houses and buildings, more than 4,000 water tanks were destroyed.

Meanwhile, the power supply infrastructure in the western region of the country was also severely affected by Gustav. In all, 137 electricity pylons of the Mariel-Pinar del Rio 220 KV transmission line were destroyed and also 13 of the 110 KV line. In addition, 4,500 posts fell, 530 electricity transformers and 5,000 public lamps were damaged.

In Isla de Pinos Archipelago Province, all the electricity lines were damaged.

Also in the western part of the country, more than 55,700 hectares of different crops were completely lost and 80% of the poultry farming sector was severely damaged in the Isle of Youth and completely destroyed in the eight municipalities of Pinar del Rio directly hit by Gustav.

In Pinar del Rio, 3,414 tobacco curing and storing facilities were destroyed and 1,590 others were partially damaged. More than 800 tons of tobacco were lost.

Meanwhile, 180,000 hectares of forests were affected.

As to the industrial production of food, 28 bakeries, eight candy factories and a fruit and vegetable canning factory were damaged.

In all, 4,355 tons of foodstuffs in warehouses were affected.

As to the LHC Radio Cuba system, two medium wave towers and the television tower in Isla de Pinos were completely destroyed thus damaging radio and television transmissions. The same happened to the towers of San Cristobal, La Palma and Los Palacios and in the municipalities of Artemisa and Bauta, in La Habana City Province.

In the telecommunications sector, 9,316 services were affected, mainly in the Isle of Youth (7,797) and Pinar del Rio (1,021).

The damages caused to TV sets, VCRs and computers continue to be assessed. Thus far, 794 computers in the sectors of health and education were affected.

As to the health sector in the western region, 314 facilities suffered damages of significant magnitude including 26 hospitals, 18 policlinics, 191 family doctor’s offices, 14 old people’s homes and 42 drugstores.

Elsewhere, in the education sector, 1,160 centers were damaged, including 599 in Pinar del Rio, 218 in Habana province, 225 in La Habana City, and 87 in the Isle of Youth Special Municipality.

Important facilities of the Nueva Gerona Port were destroyed and there were damages in the airport of the special municipality of Isle of Youth.

Main Damages Caused by Hurricane Ike

Without having concluded the assessments, the main damages caused by Hurricane Ike took place in the following provinces and municipalities:

• Guantanamo Province : Municipalities of Baracoa and Maisi.

• Holguin Province: Municipalities of Holguin, Banes, Antilla, Moa, Rafael Freyre, Mayari and Gibara.

• Las Tunas Province: Municipalities of Tunas, Puerto Padre, Manatí and Jesús Menéndez.

• Camagüey Province: Municipalities of Camagüey, Nuevitas, Guáimaro, Najasa, Florida, Sibanicú, Minas and Santa Cruz del Sur.

• Ciego de Ávila Province: Municipalities of Ciego de Avila, Venezuela, Baraguá and Majagua.

• Sancti Spíritus Province: Municipalities of Sancti Spiritus, Trinidad and La Sierpe.

• Villa Clara Province: Municipalities of Manicaragua, Encrucijada, Santo Domingo and Sagua la Grande.

• Cienfuegos Province: municipalities of Cumanayagua and Aguada de Pasajeros.

• Matanzas Province: Municipalities of Matanzas, Unión de Reyes, Calimete, Perico and Jagüey Grande.

Isla de Pinos Archipelago Province, special municipality.

The power supply service was affected nationwide and the nation remained without electricity for several hours due to the direct effect of the winds and heavy rains.

Mini and micro hydroelectric plants were severely damaged.

There are generalized interruptions of communications due to fallen trees, telephone posts and transmission towers.

All the coffee areas in the eastern region of the nation were affected and the crop were lost in the municipalities of Mayari, Sagua de Tanamo, Maisi and in the province of Granma.

More than 32,300 hectares of banana and plantain plantations and 10,000 hectares of other products were lost in the eastern provinces.

More than 500,000 fowls were lost and 100,000 of them were sacrificed and sold $ to the population. The damages to the poultry sector were severe in Sancti Spiritus, Matanzas, Las Tunas and Camagüey and Pinar Del Rio Provinces.

In the sugar cane sector, 518,879 hectares were flooded and 3,895 hectares of newly planted cane were lost. In addition, 40,000 tons of sugar have to be processed as they got wet. In addition, 10,000 hectares of bananas, plantains, rice, beans and other products were damaged.

Industrial facilities also suffered damages and their production stopped.

The Ministry of Domestic Trade reports damages to 49,000 tons of products, mainly in Holguin province.

A total of 2,642 facilities of the Ministry of Education were partially or completely damaged as well as 186 children’s day-care centers.

The Ministry of Higher Education also reports damages in the universities of Cienfuegos, Sancti Spiritus, Matanzas, Villa Clara and Holguin as well as in the municipal venue of Puerto Padre in Las Tunas province and in the Institute of Agricultural Sciences in Habana province.

Severe damages were also caused to 146 cultural institutions and 82 sports facilities including five provincial baseball stadiums, eight multi-sports halls and two swimming pool complexes.

Land communication has also been affected due to fallen trees and flooding and thousands of kilometers of roads and highways have been damaged nationwide.

Seven ports remain closed and severe damages were caused to the roofs of those of Vita, Carupano and Nuevitas.

The government of La Habana Cuba gives thanks to the nations and governments for the aid sent after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike which has left so much devastation in our nation.

Thanks to our ideological allies China, Venezuela, Bolivia.

Russia, The Soviet System, Neo-Ixania, Argentina, Black Ham Confederacy, Brabandia, Catawa, Chernobl, Colombia, Consol do Anio, East Timor, Ecuador, Evansville Grand, France, Germany, Grassland, Greal, Great Britain, Lynion, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, Royal British States, Rumanovia, Salzland, Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Spain, The Far Echo Islands, Tolvan, Uruguay, the World Assembly and other nations and organizations.

While we welcome the sincere offer of aid of the government of Miami Shores and people. Until they give us Miami Shorerian loans and credits $ with no conditions of democratic reforms attached in our democratic nation we must reject thier offer of aid. However we welcome the care packages and family remittances $, family visits of Miami Shorerian citizens of La Habana Cuban birth or descent.


La Habana Cuba, Dec 2007 population 11,236,490. Area 44,218 Square Miles, 114,525 Square Kilometers.

Provinces in order.

01. Isla de Pinos Archipelago Province, special municipal province, Isle of Youth.
02. Pinar del Rio.
03. La Habana City Province.
04. La Habana Province.
05. Matanzas.
06. Cienfuegos.
07. Las Villas, Villa Clara, Santa Clara, Las Villas de Santa Clara.
08. Sancti Espiritus.
09. Ciego de Avila.
10. Camaguey.
11. Las Tunas.
12. Granma.
13. Holguin.
14. Santiago de Cuba.
15. Guantanamo.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Felipe Perez Roque
LHC State Council of Ministers Collective.

President Raul Castro Ruz
Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz
LHC Socialist Democratic Republic of La Habana Cuba.

Miami Shorerian Herald, Co Reporter, Alberto, Rodriguez, Gonzalez, Sanchez Garcia.

Hurricane Paloma Threatens La Habana Cuba. Paloma-Pigeon-Doves

ORFILIO PELAEZ

Paloma became a hurricane Thursday night and continues to churn Friday through the western Caribbean heading north towards Grand Cayman Island, south of Cuba.

Cuba’s head weather forecaster, Dr. Jose Rubiera, announced on Thursday that the storm would intensify over the next 24 to 36 hours and gradually veer north-northeast and then northeast.

Dr. Rubiera said that the first threat posed to Cuba is in the central and eastern regions where the hurricane could hit on Sunday if it stays its path.

The La Habana Cuban Meteorology Institute reported at 6:00 a.m. Friday morning that Paloma was located 140 kilometers south of Grand Cayman Island, with sustained maximum winds of 130 kph and a minimum central pressure of 981 millibars. The storm is moving north at 15 kp

More reports may follow.

La Habana Cuba: Hurricane Paloma Reaches Category 2 Paloma-Pigeon-Doves
After Hurricanes Gustav and Ike devastated many of the same provinces.

La Habana, Cuba, Nov 7 (acn) The Weather Forecast Center of the Cuban Meteorological Institute, in its 6 PM release this Friday, announced that Hurricane Paloma has intensified, reaching Category 2 in the Saffir- Simpson scale of a maximum five.

La Habana Cuba News Agency

Cuban Meteorology Institute

The note commands the Cuban population to follow attentively the evolution and future path of this dangerous hurricane that represents a potential threat to central and eastern Cuban provinces.

Paloma’s center was located at 6 PM in the 18.9 North, 81.2 west, 50 kilometers south-southeast of Cayman Islands and some 350 west of Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Paloma has intensified and has 165 kilometers per hour maximum sustained winds, with stronger guts. Its central pressure has dropped to 967 hectpascal and it is moving north-northeast at 9 kilometers an hour.

The forecast is that Hurricane Paloma will strengthen more, probably reaching category 3, turning more to the northeast and increasing speed.

The next Hurricane Advisory will be issued at midnight.

Expected to reach to make landfall late Saturday night Nov 8 2008.

The main projected provinces affected, Sancti Espiritus, Ciego de Avila, Camaguey, Las Tunas. Other provinces may also be affected by strong winds but not as much.

The local provincial governments of Sancti Spirítus, Ciego de Ávila, Camagüey, Las Tunas, Holguin, Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo were asked to take all the necessaries measures to protect human lives and economic interests on each area.

The government of La Habana Cuba calls on all fellow nations and the World Assembly to send all kinds of aid including $ as soon as conditions allow. Your ships may dock at safe port areas on the island. Other reports may follow.

Provinces in order.

01. Isle of Youth, Isla de Pinos special municipal Province.
02. Pinar del Rio.
03. La Habana City Province.
04. La Habana Province.
05. Matanzas.
06. Cienfuegos.
07. Villa Clara, Las Villas, Santa Clara.
08. Sancti Espiritus.
09. Ciego de Avila.
10. Camaguey.
11. Las Tunas.
12. Granma.
13. Holguin.
14. Santiago de Cuba.
15. Guantanamo.

La Habana Cuba Issues Hurricane Watch for Central, Eastern Provinces

La Habana Cuba, Nov 7 (acn) The Cuban National Defense Council issued a hurricane watch on Friday morning for the central and eastern provinces, as category 1 hurricane Paloma approaches the Cayman Islands.

The rest of the country continues to be watchful to hurricane reports issued by the Cuban Weather Forecast Institute.

At 7 a.m. EST, Paloma was about 85 miles south-southwest of Grand Cayman. The storm is expected to keep gaining momentum as it moves across the Caribbean. It could become a Category 2 hurricane later on Friday and it may reach Category 3 by Saturday.

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

President Raul Castro Ruz
Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz.

Please see Post 33.

IC & OCC:

Paloma becomes Category 4 storm, heads toward Cuba

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands – Hurricane Paloma became an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 early Saturday, bringing wind and rain to the Cayman Islands and threatening to strike hurricane-ravaged Cuba as a major storm, forecasters said.

The late-season storm had top sustained winds of 135 mph, data from a hurricane hunter aircraft indicated shortly before 5 a.m. EST.

The new forecast from the National Hurricane Center in Miami called for Paloma to make landfall in Cuba as a major hurricane late Saturday or early Sunday with maximum-sustained winds of at least 111 mph.

Cuba already is suffering from Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, which struck the island earlier this season and together caused an estimated $9.4 billion in damage.

"It's not like it's new to them, unfortunately," said Dave Roberts, a U.S. Navy hurricane specialist.

Cuban official newspaper Granma, recalling past late-season hurricanes such as a 1932 storm that killed about 3,000 people, said Paloma poses "a potential danger for the island."Paloma becomes Category 4 storm, heads toward Cuba

By TRENT JACOBS, Associated Press Writer Trent Jacobs, Associated Press Writer – 11 mins ago

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081108/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/tropical_weather