When the center of Irma settled over the northern keys of Sancti Spíritus at dawn on Saturday, September 9, the Cuban Meteorology Institute confirmed that at that time the most powerful and violent storm to have formed in the history of the Atlantic was unleashing hurricane force winds from the north of Las Tunas to Mayabeque.
The gales, which to some extent or another affected 12 provinces of the country and caused damages in excess of 13 billion pesos, also deeply impacted the geography of Sancti Spíritus, particularly affecting the real estate sector, power service, water supply, agriculture and communications.
Guards and managers at the Carbó pig production center note that when the winds finally died down, at around noon, they felt as if they had returned from hell. Those responsible for the Caguanes National Park spent weeks clearing rocks and retracing paths to reach the coast; the Zaza reservoir, which had been on the verge of completely drying up months before, began to be overwhelmed by the flooding; and Rosalba, a woman from the community of Victoria, still remembers the exact place where she left her sewing machine, television and bicycle, and where she lost them forever.
Stories regarding what came next, how an entire province mobilized to support morning, noon and night those who were most severely affected; to build collective solutions such as the new palm-board house neighborhood in Seibabo; to give encouragement and shelter; to multiply the loaves of bread and the roofing tiles; are yet to be written, but as long as the memories of those 12 hours of intense winds survive in the collective imagination, there will be no shortage of writing material.
Data collected through December 28, 2017
Housing:
Affected housing: 19,159 - 6,013 repaired
Total collapse: 1,917 - 167 repaired
Partial collapse: 1,647 - 47 repaired
Completely destroyed roofing: 1,768 - 735 repaired
Partially damaged roofing: 12,583 - 4,906 repaired
Damaged multifamily residential building: 288 - 36 repaired
How have Sancti Spíritus residents accessed construction materials?
Residents paying in cash for materials: 12,915
Residents granted low-interest, long-term loans: 3,158
Residents receiving subsidised materials: 615
Residents benefiting for social security discounts: 111
Major repairs to the water system:
San Juan de Letrán pipeline (Trinidad)
Pipeline to the neighborhood of Colón (Sancti Spíritus)
El Pedrero pipeline (Fomento)
Lebrije reservoir pipeline (Jatibonico)
Managuaco pipeline (Sancti Spíritus & Cabaiguán)
Camaján supply system (Yaguajay)
Repairs to communications infrastructure:
16,124 telephone lines
93 data services
382 damaged poles
Assistance for victims:
Management posts in Defense Zones: 76
Construction materials points of sale: 53
Total number of cases assisted: 19,159
Damages to state institutions:
Completely repaired
Food industry (local administration):
40 units
Ministry of the Food Industry: 28 units
Ministry of Industries: 33 centers
Ministry of Tourism: 25 facilities
Sugar Enterprise Group (Azcuba): 62 hectares
Partially repaired institutions
Health: 74 (of 80)
Education: 124 (of 137)
Sports: 36 (of 46)
Culture: 10 (of 11)
Commerce: 112 (of 119)
Transport: 143 (of 148)
Roads:
Repaired
National Freeway – Central Highway interchange (Taguasco)
Santa Lucía – El Pedrero Road (Cabaiguán-Fomento)
Los Tramojos – La Larga Road (Taguasco)
Access road to the town of Mapos (La Sierpe)
Ongoing repairs to affected roads:
Pedrero – Gavilanes section (Fomento)
Jobo 7 Road (Jatibonico)
Manaca – Condado railway section (Trinidad)
