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By Jeff Franks in Havana September 02, 2008 11:07am
Article from: Reuters MORE than 90,000 houses were damaged or destroyed when Hurricane Gustav
tore through Cuba's western province of Pinar del Rio on Saturday with
150m/h (240km/h) winds, officials said.
Officials and state media said 80 percent of the province, which has
about 750,000 residents, was without power after Gustav knocked down 80
high-tension towers with cables that distribute electricity throughout
the region. State-run news agency AIN, in a story quoting Cuban Vice President
Carlos Lage, said 53 percent of the homes in the hardest-hit areas were
affected, most suffering roof damage. No deaths have been reported from the storm, which passed into the Gulf
of Mexico after crossing Cuba and to strike Louisiana, near New Orleans,
on the US Gulf Coast. Power lines were knocked down throughout the stricken area in Cuba, many
of them draped across roads and highways. The tall, metal towers
supporting the main electricity cables could be seen lying crumpled
across the palm-studded landscape. On state television, Mr Lage said during a trip to the worst-hit Pinar
del Rio towns that power supply was a "very grave and urgent problem." "It doesn't have to do with repairing a few towers, it has to do with
constructing a new electricity network, because much of the network is
on the ground," he said. But Mr Lage said electricity should be restored more quickly than in
past storms because of diesel generators installed around the country in
recent years. He also said electricity workers from around Cuba had been
brought in to speed repair of the system. An official for the state electric company said on state television that
power had been completely knocked out on the Isle of Youth and would
take some time to restore. AIN quoted the local electricity director on the island, which is about
40 miles (64km) off Cuba's southwestern coast and took a direct hit from
Gustav, as saying 120 miles (200km) of power lines had been downed. Television reports showed widespread devastation on the island, which
has about 86,000 residents. A report on national radio said more than 40
percent of the housing had been damaged and the main hospital was closed. The top official of the ruling Communist Party in Pinar del Rio, the
main growing region for Cuba's famed tobacco, said more than 4 million
pounds (1.8 million kg) of the leaf, already harvested and in
warehouses, had been damaged by Gustav, but that efforts were being made
to salvage them. Cuba produces about 80 million pounds (36 million kg) of tobacco annually. AIN also reported heavy damage to hotels and thousands of buildings in
Pinar del Rio's Vinales valley, a popular international tourist
destination known for its dramatic rocky outcrops and traditional
architecture. In Havana, which did not bear the full brunt of the storm but where many
older buildings are in poor condition, officials said 50 houses had
partially collapsed and six had fallen.
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