Death and Destruction on an Island Paradise

"The storm was massive. Not only high-intensity, but it was massive in area. It ran along the north coast, but it was felt along the entire island."
"People are a little bit stunned by the impact that Irma had, even here in Havana, which was not as hard hit as other areas."
"The coastal communities were devastated by the winds. Houses have lost their roofs. Trees are down. The electricity is off just about everywhere. There are some communities that even today are under feet of water."
"When people return home, they may find their house might not have a roof. Their possessions might be lost."
"We're looking at a minimum of ten thousand people we want to get to in the immediate aftermath."
Richard Paterson, CARE Canada worker, Havana, Cuba

Water battered the city's pier and flooding some low-lying areas of Havana on Saturday.    CNN

In the Cuban countryside some plantations were completely destroyed; crops devastated. Agricultural yield on the island, highly dependent on its own natural resources, has lost three or four months of production, at the very least. In the broader perspective, getting back on track to normalcy croplands may only recover in three or four years from the catastrophic effect of the hurricane.

Cuba is anything but a wealthy country; it gets by. The storm that struck Florida after it had moved through the Caribbean as a Category 5 storm had weakened considerably, to a 4, then a 3-1/2 Category, still packing whopping powerful winds and drenching rains, causing destruction and flooding. The U.S. will recover far more quickly from its costly ordeal than the islands in the Caribbean, that are much more vulnerable to such catastrophic weather events.

More than 5,000 tourists were evacuated from the keys off Cuba’s north-central coast, where the government has built dozens of resorts in recent years.  (YAMIL LAGE)

As a Category 5 storm striking the eastern tip of Cuba last Friday, the shore was pounded for 800 kilometres before the storm turned north heading for the Florida Keys. The popular resort town of Varadero was one of those catching the greatest impact, with about 14,000 tourists hunkering down for its duration, experiencing a drama they hadn't bargained for when they contemplated the sun and the sand and a getaway holiday in an island paradise reserved for tourists.

The island's trees were stripped of their foliage, left gaunt and skeletal, an eerie counterpart to destroyed buildings. Sea water surged inland for half a kilometres in certain places; even on some Havana streets rivers of muddy water ran deep and swift. Many communities with all power lines downed, will lack electricity for weeks on end, and because of shortages of fuel, travel isn't much of an option.

A flooded street near the Malecon in Havana, Cuba, on September 10, 2017. Deadly Hurricane Irma battered central Cuba on Saturday, knocking down power lines, uprooting trees and ripping the roofs off homes as it headed towards Florida.

Yamil Lage / AFP / Getty