Castro orders rapid hurricane ecovery efforts

CNN
October 15, 1999

Castro orders rapid hurricane ecovery efforts

At least two dead after Irene sweeps island

                  HAVANA (AP) -- President Fidel Castro ordered storm recovery efforts
                  to begin across western Cuban on Friday, just hours after Hurricane Irene
                  swept across the island, toppling aging buildings, flooding fields and knocking
                  out power in the nation's capital.

                  "Don't lose a minute in the recovery," Castro exhorted government and
                  Communist Party members during a meeting evaluating early damage
                  estimates.

                  As of Friday morning, authorities were reporting two storm-related deaths
                  and one other person missing in Havana. Another person was missing in
                  Matanzas province, east of Havana on Cuba's northern coast.

                  The storm caused an unspecified amount of damage to plantain, tobacco, rice
                  and other crops in the western province of Pinar del Rio and the small Isle of
                  Youth south of the main island.

                  Before the storm came through, laborers in Pinar del Rio scrambled to make
                  sure water didn't leak into warehouses storing the tobacco leaves grown to
                  make Cuba's famous cigars. Cattle and other livestock was moved to higher
                  ground.

                  Power shortages continued Friday throughout many parts of Havana and
                  other cities. Flooding and fallen tree trunks blocked roads in some sections
                  of the capital.

                  Havana Mayor Conrado Martinez said that 149 buildings were damaged by
                  the heavy rains, including 13 that collapsed, and power outages were
                  scattered around the city.

                  About 130,000 people from western and central Cuba, many of them
                  students in government boarding schools, were evacuated as the hurricane
                  approached.Classes across the region were suspended and in some areas
                  were not to resume until Monday.