Posted on Sun, Sep. 14, 2008
From Miami Herald Staff
HAVANA --
and Wire Reports
Cuba said Saturday that it is postponing a military exercise so soldiers
can focus on helping the country recover and rebuild from the
devastation of hurricanes Gustav and Ike.
A story in the Communist Party newspaper Granma said President Raúl
Castro had decided to put off ''Bastion 2008,'' an exercise scheduled to
begin in November. It provided no further details about the exercise.
Hurricane Gustav slammed into western Cuba on Aug. 30, damaging homes
and crippling industry, food production and infrastructure in Pinar del
Rio province and Isla de la Juventud, an island south of mainland Cuba.
Barely a week later, Ike hit eastern Cuba, killing seven people and
forcing nearly a fourth of the nation's population to evacuate their homes.
Victor Ramírez, president of Cuba's National Housing Institute,
meanwhile said Saturday that more than 500,000 homes were damaged or
destroyed by Gustav and Ike, more than 91,000 of those beyond repair.
Ramírez said the losses from both storms could reach in the billions of
dollars and that Cuba's armed forces had begun to tap into reserve
stocks of food and other supplies to provide aid to tens of thousands
left homeless.
Other official reports said the Cienfuegos oil refinery -- which shut
down as Hurricane Ike approached the city -- was warming up its
equipment to resume refining 65,000 barrels a day again.
Ike also flattened or swamped 740,000 acres of Cuban sugar cane, state
run radio reported Saturday. Hundreds of buildings -- from mills to
warehouses -- were also damaged.
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