When Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Cuba offered to send help even before the storm had cleared but the administration in their infinite wisdom turn them down. Why? If anyone country on the face of the earth that has more experience with hurricanes than CVuba, they are keeping it a secret. Politics got in the way of humanitarian aid.
As Hurricane Georges approached in 1998, a foreign aid worker living in Havana was astonished by the attention to preparedness, she told Oxfam.
“We had a steady stream of neighbors in and out of our apartment, counseling us to fill the bathtub with water, tape the windows, unplug all electrical items, get batteries or candles and put the car in the garage.”
At the same time, a neighborhood representative from the Federation of Cuban Women checked on the “vulnerable population,” including elderly people and single mothers who might need help evacuating. “Everyone, even the children, knew what to do,” the foreigner noted.
Despite its poverty, Cuba has a high literacy rate – almost 96 percent. Instruction in disaster preparedness begins in grade school and continues through higher education and into the workplace. Under a 1976 law, every adult receives civil defense training.
Before a new hurricane season starts on June 1, authorities review and revise disaster plans based on the prior year’s experience. In May, the entire country goes through a two-day hurricane drill, called Meteoro, that includes such practical measures as trimming tree limbs and checking for weaknesses in dams before a storm hits.
Most important, all those living in high-risk areas know beforehand where to take refuge – in sturdy homes on high ground or in group shelters, usually schools. Every shelter is stocked with food, water and medical supplies.
Agreed, that some of ththese are common sense, but their neighborhood watch program seems to be a pretty gooid one. Mazybe the US should go back to the old Civil Defense days, it worked pretty good, in theory, against those darn pesky commies and the bomb Anyway, ALL options should be pursued, no matter whose idea it is as long as it saves more lives during hurricanes.