[NYTr] Cuba: Progress Report on Recovery from Torrential Rains Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:03:21 -0600 (CST) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN) http://ainch.ain.cu/mailman/listinfo/ingles Progress Report: Recovering from Damage Inflicted by Heavy Rains Bayamo, eastern Cuba, Nov 12 (acn) Cubans in eastern Granma province intensify recovery actions to clean the damage inflicted by heavy rains and floods that affected this territory over the past weeks. The repair of roads, distribution of construction materials to rebuild damaged houses and the return of thousands evacuees home have been major actions in the eastern territory over the past days. Sources with the Provincial Defense Council recalled that during the peak of the natural phenomenon, some 42,953 persons were evacuated to safe places. Preventive measures against any possible epidemiological outbreak are a priority, particularly in the municipality known as Rio Cauto, where overflowed rivers and lagoons killed thousands of animals. The Provincial Defense authority said that the road system and the agriculture sector have been severely damaged, when the impact on housing has not yet been completely assessed since a large number of homes are still flooded. Latest report says that some 19,917 homes were affected, with over 1000 of them totally collapsed. The combination of adverse weather phenomena led up to a complex situation in the province of Granma, said the head of Operations of the Cuban Armed Forces, division general Leonardo Andoyo, who stressed the need for the country to prepare for the worse situation every time such a phenomenon could take place. On October 29, heavy rains associated with tropical storm Noel began to affect the eastern province; rainfalls intensified during the first week of November, which caused huge floods in several municipalities in the region. The over-saturation of the land plus South winds and heavy sea in the Guacanayabo Gulf caused overflowed rivers, lagoons, reservoirs and Canals, whose flow into the sea turned very difficult. * ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us Our main website: http://www.blythe.org List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr =================================================================