• Submitted by: manso
• Society
• 12 / 10 / 2010

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By Amanda Casanova / The Daily News. khou.com. ecember 10, 2010. GALVESTON, Texas — Emergency managers and officials discussed hurricane defense with Cuban experts Thursday at the San Luis Resort and Conference Center, praising Cuba’s uncomplicated process in dealing with major storms.

"They have a much more streamlined system," said state Rep. Craig Eiland, D-Galveston, at the U.S.-Cuban Cooperation in Defending Against Hurricanes conference. "Here we are broken up into groups. There’s the mayor and the county and FEMA and we’ve got sheriffs and police and DPS all trying to serve their jurisdictions, and it’s not that way in Cuba."

In the past decade, Cuba has been struck by major hurricanes 16 times, while only 30 people have been killed during those storms.

"Our mission is to save lives in Cuba," Jose Rubiera, of the Cuban-Meteorological Institute, said. "We have devised a system for making public information and education important. We want people to fully understand what is happening when it is happening."

While Cuba’s Communist government allows resources to be mobilized faster, Rubiera said, preparation still is the key to getting people out of the path of the hurricane.

"Everything is prepared beforehand," he said, noting that Cuba has an advanced mapping system that forecasts storm models for each block of each town. "Media broadcasts continually update the public on the storm and the civil defense is telling people what they should do."

But Americans sometimes don’t follow instructions and don’t think a mandatory evacuation is necessary, former Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said.

"In Cuba, when the government says ‘go,’ you go," she said. "We can’t do that in this country. People don’t think they have to leave. We need community outreach and education to let people know that if you stay during a mandatory evacuation, you’re risking your life."

More discussion is slated for the National Hurricane Conference in April in Georgia.

"It’s all about interaction," Rubiera said. "It’s about working together. That what makes this work."

This story was brought to you thanks to khou.com's partnership with The Galveston County Daily News.

Source:www.khou.com/news/local/