A Tale of Two Islands in the Path of Destruction
by Elizabeth Byce
Hurricane Melissa, which ravaged the Caribbean region at the end of October, was perhaps the worst storm ever. Comparing how two distinct neighbouring nations (Cuba and Jamaica) coped with the disaster is an instructive study in contrasts.
Cuba demonstrated the value of early warnings and preventive evacuations as socialist authorities issued timely alerts and evacuation measures. It protected more than 735,000 people. Pre-existing emergency plans and local supplies, well before the hurricane’s landfall, saved many lives.
External unilateral sanctions constrain Cuba’s access to traditional financial institutions and markets, which limits the timely procurement, transport and distribution of emergency items. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UN Global Emergency Response Fund [CERF] provided $4 million USD, which enabled national teams to pre-position supplies including food, water treatment pills, tarpaulins, hygiene kits, medical supplies, generators and agricultural inputs. This material was available for distribution to over 180,000 people.
Cuba’s emergency response system engages affected communities to quickly identify needs and efficiently use resources. Cuba’s specialized teams of engineers, architects, and social workers evaluate each case to determine appropriate response. Cuba’s civil defense system, which is praised worldwide, works with the municipality, and the local community, to apply this approach.
Melissa impacted more than 3.5 million people, but no lives were lost. There was damage to housing and infrastructure, but rebuilding is well underway, not waiting for charity or private sector developers to step forward.
Jamaica presents a very different story.
Storm-caused catastrophic damage punished the whole island. Over 45 lives were lost. (Note: the population of Cuba is nearly four times the size of Jamaica’s.) Widespread flooding and landslides, with poor civil engineering, ravaged Jamaica. For many residents there was no water, electricity and communication for more than a week. Some areas are still without one or more of these services. Possibly worst hit was the neighbourhood of Catharine Hall in Montego Bay on the north-west coast. A friend drove me through it a month after Melissa hit. There I witnessed block after block of destroyed housing and streets still caked in mud.
Tourism, agriculture and commerce are still disrupted. Jamaica is calling it a national disaster with billions of dollars of damages across the Island.
Prior to the landfall of Melissa, the Red Cross stepped up by taking action in mobilizing 400 or so volunteers who in turn set up hundreds of shelters across the eight parishes. Deliveries of food packages, blankets, tarpaulins, cleaning kits and other emergency supplies occurred, thanks to these volunteers.
One country, which stands on the shoulders of a socialist revolution that puts people before profits, notwithstanding a brutal U.S. trade embargo, is on the road to recovery, with no fatalities due to the hurricane. Another nation, a neo-colony of America, struggles to keep head above mud and water, depending on the strained efforts of volunteers and neighbours to find and bury those who perished. This is the legacy of a cruel system. And sadly, given the global corporate insistence on the burning of fossil fuel, the atmosphere will only get hotter. More hurricanes like Melissa are on the way.