The Storm Survivors

September 14, 2004
Latitude 21-30
Longitude 80-00
Republic of Cuba

“Houston, Ivan just left the island…”



When Hurricane Ivan grazed on its way to the Gulf of Mexico, Elma Garcia expected nothing left from her bathroom in her house in Pinar Del Rio. Her country has been ravaged by Mother Nature’s fury and when it all ended, cold water running from the faucet is considered a good news.

However, a greater news came when the national radio station (Radio Havana) announced that there has been zero deaths and injuries reported. Once again, ZERO deaths and injuries.

Every time I think of Cuba, I can’t stop thinking about my own country, the Philippines. Not because of the similarities between the two countries, but because of the contradiction. Of course, we cannot compare apples to oranges, but if we are judging within the context of disaster strategy program between the two, Cuba is far more effective.

Historically, we all know that Cuba being a communist republic, is considered an enemy by the Western perspective. They have been sanctioned economically by different countries, with “democracy” as the battlecry and at the helm, is no other than the United States of America. For decades of struggle, people of Cuba are living the simple, but surviving way of life---transistor radios, black & white television with highly localized programs, rural lifestyle and environment, literary books, beach resorts, cigars, no shopping malls, and of course, no Starbucks. Despite all of these, they were able to cope up with the rest of the world, and even became competitive in the field of athletics (they have a university tasked on national sports development, and being an athlete is considered a career itself).

Looking to their evacuation program, and knowing how it worked during the height of Hurricane Ivan’s visit to their country, Cubans have the most reason to be proud. And for the other countries to learn about.

There will always be damages brought by a hurricane, as showed by the aerial views of torn-off roofs and walls, downed palm trees, flooded coastlines, and damages to livestock and agriculture, but the spared lives and injuries from the storm is an inspiring story of man’s triumph over a vengeful nature.

Perhaps, they are lucky. They are lucky because their people are not just well informed, they are also responsible citizens. Moreover, they have a healthy view of life; they know that a human life is much more valuable than any of their television sets, radios, and houses. Here in the Philippines, people could trade their lives for a mobile phone, or an iPod..

They shut the electricity down before the hurricane came, and it was a good move. Civil defense plans are highly developed, with preparedness education programs for the entire population. Evacuations are widespread and mandatory (check below for related story). The effectiveness of the program produced not just zero deaths and injuries, but also zero crime and abuse. Here in my country, expect a looting binge and abuse of power to occur in the streets whenever a typhoon comes. And when there is an extreme flooding, combined with the arrival of camera-clad media men on the immediate vicinity, the typical Filipino will not hesitate to flash a “peace sign,” frame his face and smile on the camera, even if he is submerged neck-deep on that mocha-colored floodwater in the middle of the wind and rain.

For Elma Garcia and her husband, it would be difficult to start all over again, losing almost everything to Hurricane Ivan in her destroyed home. But just like after the past hurricanes, she knows that her government will help her in rebuilding her house. The case is not the same here in my country.

If you want to survive, you must survive alone.

Philippines have many things to learn from Cuba.


related story: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5927015