Given the forecasts of a very active cyclonic season (from 1 June to 30 November), the first orientation in the Cayo Coco Defence Zone is to prevent major disasters for one of the most important tourist destinations in the country.
This was the message delivered by Major General Ramón Pardo Guerra, Chief of the National General Staff of the Civil Defence, in an exchange with the members of the aforementioned Defence Zone.
Cayo Coco has negative experiences such as that of Hurricane Irma seven years ago, and in order to avoid similar damage it must prepare itself to face such events, said Pardo Guerra.
Cuban Medical Services, faced with an event of such dimensions, has how to respond effectively to protect human lives, according to Dr. Caridad Franco Almaguer, the organisation’s representative in the Cayo Coco Defence Zone.
From the information phase, 45 doctors and 67 nurses would be mobilised, together with a surgical brigade that would access the cay once the Alert phase is declared, in order to maintain medical insurance during the passage of the meteorological event, explained Franco Almaguer. The tourist resort also has three ambulances and six pharmacies.
Pardo Guerra then emphasised the need for the necessary logistical safeguards within the cay so that unforeseen events do not occur, as well as the need to devise strategies on the part of the Water Resources and Community representatives, for example, in order to act quickly.
In order to foresee, take measures in time, and deal with the damage caused by such phenomena, the necessary value should be given to the timely exchange of information between the Weather and Forecast department in the province, the Municipal Defence Councils and the highest authorities.
Before concluding the meeting, the director of the Provincial Meteorological Centre, Oscar Benedico Rodriguez, stressed the high probability of a cyclone (90 per cent) or a hurricane (80 per cent) hitting the archipelago this season.
According to predictions by specialists from the Institute of Meteorology, 20 tropical cyclones are expected to form in the North Atlantic basin, of which 11 could become hurricanes. (Written by Arley Puyol Álvarez)
