8 Million Cubans Affected by Hurricane Dennis

Havana, 9 Jul (PL)--More than 8 million Cubans have been affected by

Hurricane Dennis, which struck 9 of the island´s 14 provinces, where

intensive recovery efforts are now underway the National Civil Defense

reported Saturday night.

The Category four hurricane, with winds of 145 mph (216 km/h) and

torrential rainfall accumulations, did heavy damage to farming,

agro-industrial facilities and power lines.

Lt. Col. Luis Angel Macareño, second chief of the National Civil Defense,

said that except for the provinces of Guantanamo, Pinar del Río, Holguín,

Las Tunas and the special municipality of the Isle of Youth, all of Cuba

was affected, with seven provinces reporting severe damage.

At a special live TV broadcast Saturday night, Lt. Col. Macareño praised

the organization and discipline the population showed in the face of the

fierce storm. "That particularly prevented worse damage and helped avoid a

higher loss of human life," he said.

Despite the intensity of the hurricane and the material destruction it

caused, only 10 people died, 8 in Granma and 2 in Santiago, in eastern Cuba.

Exceptional measures were urgently taken to safeguard the population and

secure food products, livestock and farming facilities.

Lt. Col. Macareño said over one and half million people were evacuated to

safe places, of them more than 280,000 just in Havana city. There are still

one million people in emergency shelter as Civil Defense experts check on

their houses before they can safely go back home.

More than 400,000 farm animals were also taken to protected areas while

many farming facilities were dismantled to protect them from the strong

winds; many other structures their roofs or suffered other of damage.

Lt. Col. Macareño stressed that intense recovery work is already underway,

especially electrical crews working hard to restore power and clearing

roads of fallen trees and other debris. Work is also ongoing to safeguard

food products.

Damage to housing is currently being assessed to start restoration work, he

said.

Seven provinces (Havana, Matanzas, Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Sancti

Spiritus, Ciego de Avila and Camaguey) are without electricity, as well as

regions of Granma and Santiago. The fierce winds knocked down seven radio

towers and four TV transmitters in those provinces.

Victor Fuentes, Director of the Union Electrica (Electric Company),

reported that the hurricane severed the country´s power network as 29 high

tension towers were destroyed in central Cuba (Villa Clara and Cienfuegos

basically).

Havana has no electricity, no cooking gas and no running water. Local

authorities assured that arduous work is being done to restore those

services as soon as possible.

Four big power plants were shut down as a precautionary measure to keep

them from suffering damage and they will be put back to work in a day or

so, Engineer Fuentes said.

Lt. Col. Macareño indicated that the only benefit Dennis brought to the

island was the high rainfall accumulation in most provinces, where

drought-stricken reservoirs were able to recover a significant amount of

their normal water level.