Just when we thought things could not get any worse another hurricane is heading towards Cuba. This time is called PALOMA and although is not as bad as previous GUSTAV and IKE last September the Cuban goverment is not taking any chances and is evacuating the southern- central part of the Island.

Tracking northeast to strike Cuba’s south-central coast late Saturday, and with Havana still reeling from a devastating storm season, Paloma would be the fifth to crash into the island this year.

The island began mobilizing its defenses in readiness for the tempest — preparing total evacuations of low-lying regions and coastal cities on the southern coast, prepping medical teams and equipping shelters for residents and up to 3,000 foreign tourists.

Cuba declared a hurricane warning for its central and eastern provinces Friday, covering Sancti Spiritus, Ciego de Avila, Camaguey, Las Tunas, Holguin, Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo, civil defense officials said.

In Holguin province, the area most devastated by Hurricane Ike in September, head of the region’s Civil Defense Council Miguel Diaz-Canel ordered emergency measures to protect life and property.

Gladys Sanchez, a resident of Minas, north of the central city of Camaguey told AFP by telephone that “no one had expected another hurricane.”

“There are people here who are still homeless,” she said, adding that local residents had just begun to recover from the previous storms.

“It has been raining here since morning — everything is dark,” she said.

The 2008 hurricane season, including devastating Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, has killed hundreds across the Caribbean and Central America and wrought billions of dollars in damage across the region.

Gustav and Ike, which struck Cuba on August 30 and September 9, caused an estimated 9.3 billion dollars in damage, almost double the original estimates, according to official reports.

In the Caribbean’s most populous island nation, with more than 11 million people, the storms have damaged some tourism infrastructure and destroyed about 80 percent of crops.

This is what is left of Batabano after Ike. Batabano is a municipality in located in the south of Habana Province.

The Hurricane IKe or Gustav did not pass by Batabano but the strong winds and rains caused huge devastation in the area.

If you are a tourist you will probably never get to see something like this.

Cuba has warned that it faces food shortages for the next six months after the devastating damage caused by hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

The government is introducing emergency measures after almost one-third of the country’s crops were destroyed.

The twin storms caused the worst damage in the island’s history.

“There have been very serious effects, but I can say no Cuban is going to die of hunger or be abandoned to their fate,” Alcides Lopez, the vice-minister of agriculture, said.

“We face six hard months … but we can’t lament, we have to plant,” he added, outlining more than 80 measures designed to speed up production and the distribution of food.

The government is also taking steps to stop food speculators driving up prices.

Gustav hit western Cuba on August 30, with Ike striking seven days later. Heavy rains and high winds devastated thousands of acres of agricultural land.

Cuba, which spends up to $2bn annually on food imports, was already struggling to increase its domestic production when the storms hit staples such as rice, beans, plantains and sweet potatoes.

Around 1.2m eggs were destroyed and 500,000 chickens killed.

The authorities said they were trying to salvage as much of the damaged crops as possible, repair farm equipment and restore power to food processing plants.

The Cuban government has also hit out at the US over the shortages, saying its trade sanctions were the biggest obstacle to Cuba’s recovery.

The embargo prevents Cuba from buying supplies directly from the US, and prevents the island from purchasing any US goods on credit.

“The economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed during 50 years by the United States is the main obstacle to Cuba’s development,” Felipe Perez Roque, the Cuban foreign minister, said.

Every year for the past 16 years, the UN general assembly has approved Cuba’s resolution calling for the embargo to be lifted. The next vote is next month.

We have been advised that the following hotels have been affected by Hurricane Ike:

1-. Playa Pesquero is working without problems.

2-. Occidental Playa Turquesa, is open without any problems, apart from the satelite tv, which will be solved on the 15th Sept. (yesterday, so It might be working by now).

3-. Blau Costa Verde, is open with all services funtioning, the only area afected is a roof for a small section of the lobby area.

4-. Rio de Mares, is open with all servixces, but the gym will remian close until further notice.

5-. Playa Costa Verde, will reopen on the 15th October.
6-. Paradisus Rio de Oro, will open form the 1st November.

As you all know, Hurricane IKE has just passed through Cuba, a week later after our Island been affected by Gustav. Both hurricanes with very strong rains and winds almost all over the country.
All our clients were protected; they felt safe and secure and were assisted by our staff and managers, all the time. That allowed us to guarantee that any personal injuries were suffered, as it is already common in Cuba, in situations like this.
Nevertheless, the Cubanacan hotels located in Pinar del Río (Viñales, Levisa and Soroa), Holguín (Guardalavaca), Camaguey (Santa Lucía) and Las Tunas (Covarrubias) have suffered some damages. Thus, interrupting their normal operations for the moment.
At present we are immersed in a reconstruction programme. The reopenings will take place in accordance with the situation in each specific region and hotel. We would like to present to you as proposed dates, the followings:
Holguín:
Brisas Guardalavaca (206 rooms)
• Villas/ Monday 15/09/08
Club Amigo Atlántico Guardalavaca
• Villas/ Monday 15/09/08
Granma
Marea del Portillo, El Yarey
• The operations remains, without any affectation
Santiago de Cuba
The city (Versalles, Meliá Santiago)
• The operations remains, without any affectation
Beach area (Carisol /Los Corales)
• Monday 15/09/08
Brisas Sierra Mar/Los Galeones
• Saturday, 13/09/08
Pinar del Río
Viñales (Rancho San Vicente – 34 rooms)
• Saturday, 13/09/08
Jazmines, Ermita and Soroa
• To be advine in a few days.
Trinidad, Cienfuegos, Villa Clara and Sancti Spiritus
• The operations have been reestablished in all the hotels and all their rooms
Varadero (This includes Breezes Jibacoa)
• The operations remains, without any affectation
Península de Zapata
• Batey Don Pedro: the operations remains, without any affectation
• Playa Girón: Saturday, 13/09/08
• Other Services: Saturday, 13/09/08
La Habana
• The operations remain, without any affectation, with exception of Villa Megano, in which the electricity is still cut off. Possible reopening: 15/09/08
Camaguey /Santa Lucía; Las Tunas /Covarrubias
• The reconstruction works are taking place. The reopening dates will be announced later on, once the works have advanced.
In order to keep you frequently up to date, on how the recovery process of our hotels is going, the Commercial Direction will be issuing a systematic updating of each hotels situation and its recovering process.
Thanks for your continious collaboration and support.
Best regards,
Raul Naranjo Aday
Vice-president
Cubanacan Group

13:00 Local Time: Hurricane Ike is heading South towards the sea – reported the Cuban National Meteorology Centre. The exit point is expected somewhere near Jaruco a small town on the south coast of Ciego de Avila province.

Experts fear that the category 2 hurricane could gain strength on the Caribbean Sea to then return to the Cuban Island.

Hurricane “Gustav” in the Caribbean has left a balance of 85 dead, and a revealing fact: none of them was Cuban.

“Gustav” reached Cuba on Saturday, August 30, with sustained winds of 240 kilometers per hour, category 4 in the Saffir-Simpson scale. The province that was hit the worst was Pinar del Rio. In its path around the island, the hurricane caused 18 injuries, none serious, and destroyed partially or totally 90,000 houses. All will be rebuilt.

Tourist resorts like Cayo Largo and Las Terrazas (La Moka) remain close until further notice.

“Gustav”, a category 4 hurricane with its passage through Cuba , did not cause any victim in a poor and underdeveloped country.”Gustav”, a category 2 hurricane with its passage by the

U.S., left seven dead (for now) in the most powerful country on earth.