October 21, 2005
Guilma Picapiedra (Updated)
Everybody knows the drill. The day Max Mayfield comes out on the local news and shows us computer models depicting different paths an approaching hurricane can take, we Americans mobilize.
We jump into our cars and head to the gas station for a fill up. We haul ass to Home Depot and buy plywood and Tapcons and flashlights and batteries and candles and duct tape. We swarm supermarkets filling our carts with bottled water and canned soups and canned vegetables and powdered milk and dry goods and dog food and beer and sodas and Spam and Chef Boyardee.
If you happen to get to the supermarket a little late, chances are you'll see something you only see during times of crises. Empty shelves. Where the tons of water bottles were there will be nothing but empty space. Where the Campbells soups are there will be nothing left but one or two cans of some nasty tasting stuff that nobody wants to eat, even during a hurricane.
We literally stock our pantries and homes, just in case. Por si las moscas.
And sometimes, while you are in the 24/7 yellow raincoat hurricane news cycle, there will be some reporter with a story on Cuba, and how millions are mobilizing in preparation for the oncoming storm. A model of efficiency, some will say, parrotting the maximun leader's more than ubiquitous lauding of his emergency system.
But the reality is Cuba is a bit different than what your average Joe Reporter will show you on the 6 o'clock news.
Of course there will be shelters, when you live basically in a hut or a building that is crumbling for lack of maintenance, in a home where the government has put you in, that same government better damn well make sure you survive the storm.
Of course thousands of Cubans will be bussed here and there. When you live in a country where no one owns a car, no one can afford gasoline for said car because of the economic shortcomings of its government, then said government better damn well send a bus to get you and take you to that shelter where you will most undoubtedly have to stand because of overcrowding.
What Joe Reporter doesnt show you on the 6 o'clock news are scenes like these, from The Real Cuba, on how Cubans attempt to keep something in their stomachs during a storm.
Here's a shot of a bakery in Cuba. The sign reads "Tomorrow, Thursday, Thursday and Friday's bread will be doled out."
And as soon as that bakery opens, you get this:
And after a few minutes, unfortunately, you get this:
This is just a line for bread, folks. There are lines for beans. Lines for rice. Lines, lines and more lines. All for a handful of stuff and certainly not three of four days worth of supplies.
So next time you're standing in line at your local market in preparation for a storm, complaining and frustrated with all the people and havoc all around, remember it could be worse. You could be Cuban. And those lines and havoc could be an everyday affair for you.
There are lots more photos up at The Real Cuba showing what Cubans do to prepare for a storm, but perhaps the most poignant one is this one:
A Cuban in Batabano trying to save one of his worldly possessions: his mattress.
UPDATE: Welcome Instapundit readers! Thanks for dropping by and I hope you'll take some time to read through Babalú for news and commentary on Cuba and Cuban issues, as well as our stuff on Wilma as we brace ourselves here in Little Havana, USA.
I'd like to suggest to you all that you take certain news items from Cuba, such as this glowing report from CNN, with a grain of salt. The Cuban government controls all media sources on the island, and thus any reportage you encounter from even reputable news sources has been pre-approved by said government. It is well documented and understood by all MSM representatives that negative news from within the island can lead to the expulsion of the journalist and their crew with re-entry prohibited. It is, in essence, extortion by proxy.
Oh, and one more thing. Imagine how anyone of those people in the pictures above would feel, after decades of living off ration books, the moment he or she steps into your local supermarket.
Technorati tags: Hurricane, Wilma, Cuba
Posted by Val Prieto at October 21, 2005 08:14 AM
Comments
For somebody that doesn't know, these images may carry little meaning and bring doubt with them....(could it be true? is it really that bad?)
...but for those who lived them they are a painful reminder...
and this is the lives of Cubans......every day....every month....year after year.... for how long now? - there is no escaping it...it doesn't get better-
and this is how we spend our time... our lives... the only life we have
Posted by: nurian at October 21, 2005 09:32 AM
For fairness, there's probably a little truth in this too.
OT: Does Marislaysis have her own salon yet?
Posted by: The Lonewacko Blog at October 21, 2005 01:05 PM
What's that guy doing with a mattress? Sleep should be the least of his worries...
But at least it's a better show than in New Orleans.
Posted by: California Conservative at October 21, 2005 01:06 PM
Hi Val, This is kind of OT but why do people keep buying plywood.Would it not be easier and more effective to buy some 12gage steel and have them fitted to the windows where they could be bolted on when needed?Hell you could even fit gasket material on em' to keep water out.I have just always wondered as to why people seem to keep buying plywood.Keep up the good fight.
Posted by: Cracker at October 21, 2005 01:21 PM
Lonewacko,
Well, with your link, what youre saying that since the hurricane preparedness in Cuba is excellent as that article states, and since this preparedness is addressed, in Cuba, at the local committee level, then the mismanagement of the Katrina preparation efforts, did in fact, rest upon the shoulders of the local officials. Thus, the linked article, by its own argument and implication that the Katrina mismanagement was President Bush's fault, is inherently flawed.
In that case, I agree.
Cal Consrvative,
When one of your only valuable possessions is a mattress, you tend to want to keep it from getting destroyed. As for your link, well, at least here in the states, we have a voice and a vote whereby we can show our displeasure.
Posted by: Val Prieto at October 21, 2005 01:22 PM
Cracker,
The hurricane panels here are expensive. Plus the fact that you shouldnt just get them at home depot. The Florida Building Code has strict testing and regulations on these and they must meet some major wind and projectile requirements.
Posted by: Val Prieto at October 21, 2005 01:25 PM
There is a big difference between a natural disaster here in the US and one in Cuba:
1. Here you have the choice (yes...it is a choice) to insure your goods and life-not in Cuba
2. Here you can buy as much stuff as you are going to need to prepare for the disaster- not in Cuba
3. Looters are criminals, period (does it need to be repeated?). And that brings us to another difference between both places: there are places to loot here!!!- that may explain why there was no looting in Cuba.
4. The most important difference is: even if you lose EVERYTHING...all of your material possesions, you still have the opportunity to work, start anew, and have a decent life- defenitely NOT in Cuba
And are we going to start comparing "poverty" in the US with poverty in Cuba?
What we call "poverty" in the US is the way that many around the world wish they could live like. Plus, how are those statistics determined? by reported taxable income? oh yeah! great way to figure it out!!!
It sounds a lot "sweeter" and "compassionate" to talk about "poverty" and say that "it is not fair" than it does to call things by their name.
Poverty in this country (except some isolated cases of mental illness, etc) is pretty much a matter of choice and it can be prevented. Not in Cuba.
Immigrants (at least Cubans and many other hispanics clients of mine) come to this country without savings and barely knowing the language. Yet they make good choices and the work hard...and they buy their own home....$80,000 or $350,000- it doesn't matter... but their own home. And most of the immigrants I know that live in this country, regardless of their economic status don't call themselves poor, they call themselves LUCKY.
Posted by: nurian at October 21, 2005 01:32 PM
The problem with the mattress for the poor man, and take a look at the shape that mattress is in, is that once you lose your mattress, nobody's gonna get you another one. castro has other priorities than food, housing or furniture for Cuba's non-party-card-holding people.
Posted by: A.M. Mora y Leon at October 21, 2005 04:16 PM
While posting reports from the US hurricane Katrina on my blog, I noted a Florida report lauding Cuba's evacuations...and wrote:
"...There was also another story, from a reporter from a Florida paper, who proclaimed how expertly Cuba did their evacuations...she even had a quote from John Egeland of the UN---you know, the one who always bitches the USA won't give him money for tsunami victims---who praised Cuba because a huge evacuation had no deaths...now if you believe that, John, I know a nice bridge in Brooklyn that I can sell to you...
You see, if you have statistics on any large number of people even sitting in their living rooms, statistically there will be deaths. And if you have one million people evacuated, there will be deaths: some just because people die, but also due to stress, heat, accidents etc..."...
Alas, I didn't link the article but my report link is here...
http://fkclinic.blogspot.com/2005/09/lucky-you.html
Posted by: Boinkie at October 21, 2005 04:56 PM
I simply provided the link, that doesn't necessarily mean I agree with anything in it. However, if they do have better, localized hurricane evacuations, perhaps we should consider whether that would improve our evacs.
So, is Marisleysis' salon still in business?
Posted by: The Lonewacko Blog at October 21, 2005 05:09 PM
Photos brought back some memories of Havana - the people lined up for the "bread" the "rice" the "beans" - and other parts of Cuba, if they were lucky enough to have a source to line up at. Reading the comments - got mixed feelings. First of all, my reaction to storms hitting Cuba is that they, unlike us North Americans, really don't have a lot to think about by way of, "What will I try and salvage." And, yes I've been there when they've been warned to "batten down the hatches," and watched the efficiency with which things are closed up, and equally when they are returned to normal after the storm has passed. I've not seen any mass panic - but then I've only been around a couple of times. The guy with the mattress - I know that is valuable; I have friends who don't have a mattress - sleeping on old fashioned lawn furniture with most of the rungs/weaves missing...bums hanging on the ground - sounds funny, but it is not; it's a way of life. THOUGHT: I wonder, do they sell household insurance in Cuba - wouldn't be much of a market for it as the basis is the "value" of the contents - and most have little contents, and even less of value. LIFE THAT is what is valued and what one sees and experiences in Cuba.
Posted by: Velma at October 21, 2005 07:27 PM
Lonewacko,
Apparently so....
Five years later, Little Havana remembers Elian Apr 24, 2005
At Marisleysis Hair Design on a recent afternoon, Marisleysis Gonzalez was in the middle of coloring the hair of one of the handful of patrons inside her small shop. Dressed in a black apron and wearing disposable gloves, she politely declined comment. (Houston Chronicle -- World)
Posted by: Adriana at October 24, 2005 07:32 PM