Does this look like a story of global warming / climate disruption?
They are even really scared in Cuba to ask for help from the USA (the first time since the embargo decreed in 1 by the USA at the time of the cold war !!! we think we are dreaming). I think that if Fidel Castro was still the chief, he would not have asked for help from the US ...
HAVANA (AFP) - 07/09/08 10: 20Hurricanes: Havana asks Washington to lift its embargo, Ike approaches Cuba
Cuba called on the United States to lift its embargo to allow US companies to open credit and help Cubans affected by Hurricane Gustav, while the eastern provinces of the island have been placed on alert for Ike's approach.
Photographer: Thony Belizaire AFP :: Haitians in a street in Gonaïves (center-north), the second city of the island and the most affected by Hanna, September 5, 2008agrandirphoto 1 / 2photo: Thony Belizaire, AFP
Photographer: Handout AFP / Getty Images :: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite image showing Ike at bottom right and Gustav at top enlarge photo 2 / 2photo: Handout, AFP
Ike must hit these regions on Sunday with winds of 215 km / h before sweeping the entire center of the island to the vicinity of the seaside resort of Varadero (center), according to meteorologists.
“If the government of the United States has the real will to cooperate with the Cuban people in the face of the tragedy caused by the hurricane, it is asked to (...) lift the embargo which prevents American companies from offering private trade credits "in Cuba" to buy food in the United States, "said a statement from the Cuban foreign ministry.
The Cuban authorities had "thanked" Washington earlier on Saturday for its "regrets" for the serious damage caused a week ago by Gustav, while denouncing his embargo, but without saying explicitly, in their press release, whether they refused or not the financial aid offered by Americans.
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Washington announced Friday that it had offered aid worth 3 dollars to Cuba on September 100.000, which would be delivered through an NGO.
The Americans had also offered to send a damage assessment mission, according to the Cuban authorities. Washington has maintained an embargo since 1962 against the Communist Island, except for pharmaceuticals and food. The Cuban authorities have accepted offers of assistance from several countries, including that of Russia, which has already dispatched two humanitarian aid planes to the area.
A week after the passage of Hurricane Gustav which devastated the west of the country, Ike "represents a serious threat" to Cuba when he reached category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale which has 5, in "approaching the north eastern coast of Cuba" with sustained winds of 215 km / h, the Cuban Meteorological Center (Insmet) said in a statement.
Cuban Civil Defense on Saturday declared the "cyclonic alert phase" for the eastern provinces of Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Holguin, Las Tunas and Camaguey, in order to allow the evacuation of areas at risk of flooding, according to Cuban national television.
The central provinces of Ciego de Avila, Villa Clara, Sancti Spiritus and Cienfuegos, as well as the western province of Matanzas, close to that of Havana, have also been called for vigilance by the Civil Defense.
After his passage on the Bahamas, Ike must strike Sunday evening the Cuban coasts of the province of Holguin then go up on a northwest axis by sweeping all the center of the island. The eye of the cyclone should leave Tuesday the country not far from Havana and the largest seaside resort of the country, Varadero (province of Matanzas, 140 km east of Havana), and continue its journey towards the south of United States, according to the American Hurricane Center (NHC), based in Miami (Florida).
This trajectory may however still change in the coming hours, according to meteorologists.
According to the NHC, Ike must then head to the Gulf of Mexico and the US state of Louisiana, according to the NHC.
The waves it could form are announced between 4 and 5,5 meters higher than normal. As for the very heavy rains expected, they could turn into floods with 10 to 20 cm announced in accumulation, up to 30 cm in Bahamas and up to 50 cm in Cuba. Mudslides are also to be feared, according to the NHC.
Western Cuba was devastated a week ago by a category 4 hurricane, Gustav, which, without officially killing anyone on the communist island, destroyed or damaged more than 100.000 buildings there with winds blowing on average at 240 km / h and gusts reaching even 340 km / h, a record for Cuba.
Gustav had killed more than 100 people elsewhere in the Caribbean and in the southern United States.
In Haiti, Gustav and another hurricane, Hanna, killed more than 500
The Cuban authorities have accepted offers of assistance from several countries, including that of Russia, which has already dispatched two humanitarian aid planes to the area.
Source: orange info.