Damage report from Cuba

The Miami Herald
Sun, July 10, 2005

Damage report from Cuba

Updated at 10:58 p.m. July 9

The official La Prensa Latina reported Saturday that Hurricane Dennis left ''at least 10 dead'' in Cuba. It also said that ''most of the deceased'' lived in the provinces of Granma and Santiago de Cuba, leaving open the possibility that more victims might be found later in other provinces.

-- Renato Perez

Damage reports from Cuba

Storm topples weather station tower with 156 mph winds

Updated at 8:06 p.m. July 9.

Briefing Fidel Castro Saturday evening on the TV program Round Table, Cuba's chief meteorologist Jose Rubiera said the area of Granma province hit by the hurricane -- a triangle formed by the cities of Pilón, Cabo Cruz and Niquero -- was ''razed, burned'' by the winds.

The weather station in the area recorded sustained winds of 129 mph with gusts of 156 mph before its tower collapsed, Rubiera said.

No reports could be obtained on Saturday from weather stations in the Sancti Spiritus province because of a breakdown of communications, he said.

In some places, ''rainfall was impressive,'' Rubiera said, citing a reading of 768 millimeters of rain over Baragua, in Ciego de Avila province. In the city of Cienfuegos, rainfall measured 309 millimeters.

-- RENATO PEREZ

Castro refers to Dennis as `mercenary hurricane'

Updated at 6:27 p.m. July 9.

Not one to miss a dig at the United States, Fidel Castro on Friday referred to Dennis as ''the mercenary hurricane,'' because it entered Cuba through an area of Matanzas province that included the Bay of Pigs, site of the 1961 invasion by Cuban exiles sponsored by Washington.

Ever since, the invaders have been called ''mercenaries'' by the Cuban government.

Castro used the description several times while talking on the phone with Daniel Moreira, a Communist Party official from the Bay of Pigs region who reported that Dennis had ''landed'' in Matanzas and was being ``fought off.''

On Saturday, the daily Granma reported the telephone conversation under the headline: ``The mercenary hurricane was defeated.''

While giving detailed coverage to the amount of damage caused by Dennis, the Cuban news services on Saturday gave no details about the 10 deaths, other than to report Fidel Castro's sorrow over the human loss.

-- RENATO PEREZ

Matanzas residents expect to be without power for days

Updated at 6:18 p.m. July 9.

Hearing earlier in the day on Cuban radio that Hurricane Dennis would come through Matanzas, a 55-year-old school office worker in Matanzas was glued to Radio Rebelde, unable to sleep, when the power went out.

''I was so nervous I kept calling the radio station because all I had working was my telephone,'' she said. ``We have nothing here, no candles, no water supplies, no battery powered radio to stay informed. The government gives us nothing and we have nothing.''

She said there was no damage to her house, nor others in the La Playa neighborhood in which she lives, but they have been without power and no water since around 12:30 a.m. Saturday.

She said she heard reports of downed power lines all over Matanzas and the surrounding towns -- the worst damage in Union de Reyes. One detail being passed around between neighbors: A century's old tree in Parque Central, huge and once with roots deep into the ground, was uprooted -- quite a sight to behold.

``This will only add to our misery. Before this, we had nine and 12-hour (outages). Now we're expecting to be without electricity for a week to 10 days. And the water situation is horrible. Now we have to go with our bucket to get one bucket of water per person from a pipa (a truck that carries water) they'll bring in -- and I'll have to fight all these people to get my water. Like always, fights will break out. It will be horrible just horrible.''

She then began to openly rant against ''our lying, inept government'' and ``that liar [Fidel Castro], who is now obsessed with Chavez, Chavez, Chavez, and hasn't even delivered on his promise to distribute the rice cookers.''

But they consider themselves lucky. The sea did not flow into the streets, as they had feared and their houses, built in the '40s and '50s, and enlarged in recent years with homemade additions built with whatever materials they've been able to gather throughout the years, did hold up.

''It was so eerie to feel all that wind, like it was going to take us all with it, and no rain,'' said a 67-year-old housewife from the same neighborhood. ``It's only now that it's raining, but all through the night, it was gusts of winds. I was so scared I hardly slept and when I woke up this morning, I was totally sick to my stomach. Now I'm sick and we have no water and no electricity.''

Both women had heard of the 10 deaths, but were skeptical that it was the full truth. ``God knows how many died. We are so isolated we don't know what to believe.''

-- FABIOLA SANTIAGO

Death toll in Cuba second highest in nation's history; damages severe

Updated at 5:27 p.m. July 9.

Dennis took almost 12 hours to cross Cuba. It entered through the southern coast of Cienfuegos as a Category 4 hurricane, lost strength as it traveled over land, and left Cuba at Santa Cruz del Norte, east of Havana, as a Category 1 storm.

''We slept fitfully. We have neither electricity nor water nor gas. We're holed up in our homes. One of our doors came down, but we're fixing it,'' a 28-year-old woman in Havana told the AFP.

''We must try to return to normality. Today we still have the problem of the rains, which will remain heavy in some areas of the country,'' said Cuba's chief meteorologist Jose Rubiera.

Dennis overstayed its welcome in Cuba by two hours, leaving Havana for the Straits of Florida at 1 a.m. Saturday, instead of 11 p.m. Friday, as forecast by Cuba's Meteorological Institute.

Behind it, the storm left at least 10 Cubans dead -- the worst toll in 42 years -- and extensive property damage in the eastern and central provinces.

''Let's work hard on the recovery,'' exhorted the Communist Party daily on a front page headline, over a story that praised ''the spirit of unity, discipline, patriotism, solidary and organization'' of the Cuban people ``in the face of this contingency of nature.''

As morning came to the city of Havana on Saturday, public transportation was at a standstill, stores were closed, electricity and telephone communications were erratic. People picked up debris from the street.

''I thought heaven and earth were uniting. It was a terrible night,'' Rolando Conde, a 57-year-old bricklayer, told a reporter from Agence France-Presse while surveying the damage to his neighborhood, near the Malecón seawall.

Conde feared that if the electricity was not restored soon, everyone would lose the food in their refrigerators.

''That would be worse than the hurricane,'' he said.

The number of dead was a sobering counterpoint to the official elation. In the wake of 15 hurricanes that have struck the island since 1963, a total of only 20 Cubans were killed, thanks primarily to a nationwide system of prevention that, in the words of leader Fidel Castro on Friday, ``works like a clock.''

The worst toll was inflicted by Hurricane Flora in 1963: 1,200. Then came George in 1988 (six dead), Charley in 2004 (five), Irene in 1999 (four), Isidore in 2002 (two) and Lili, also in 2002 (one).

Damage to the eastern provinces was extensive. A Communist Party official in Granma province reported to Castro on Friday that 20,000 homes were partially damaged or totally destroyed. In Cabo Cruz, a coastal town of 128 homes, only 11 remained standing. In Pilón, a city of 8,300 homes, 6,000 were damaged or destroyed. In Niquero, 9,420 of the 11,776 homes were damaged, the official said.

It was in Granma that the 10 people died, some killed by collapsing buildings or falling trees, others by drowning. One 18-month-old child died when her mother smothered her in an effort to protect her from the storm.

Along with Granma, the provinces of Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos were the worst affected in terms of material damage, and remained so into Saturday.

In Santiago de Cuba, the overflowing Sevilla River isolated the town of Guamaá and damaged the Baconao National Park.

The cities of Pilón and Niquera in Granma province remained cut off on Saturday because of mudslides that blocked the Granma highway.

Much of the island was left without electricity, because of downed power lines and blown transformers. Telephone communications were reported to be erratic. Lack of water and natural gas afflicted hundreds of thousands of people.

Some of the 1.5 million evacuees began to return to their homes Saturday.

-- RENATO PEREZ

50,000 evacuated from Pilon

Updated at 5 p.m. July 9.

PILON -- Heavy winds toppled a radio and television tower in the mounatain region of Pilón, a town in the provincial city of Granma, the Giron newspaper in Matanzas reported.

The region sustained constant heavy rain that began Friday evening and some 50,000 residents from the combined areas of Manzanilla, Media Luna, and Niquero evacuated to educational centers seeking refuge. Electrical wires went down, cutting off power to residents. In nearby Cabo Cruz, winds as high as 149 mph were reported.

-- SAUDY PENA

Great Bacanao Park hard hit by Dennis

Updated at 3:38 p.m. July 9.

SANTIAGO DE CUBA -- Cuban authorties in the southeastern city of Santiago de Cuba are working around the clock to minimize the damage from Hurricane Dennis, which tore through the region on Friday.

Great Baconao Park, a World Heritage Biosphere Reserve known for its prehistoric valley, replica coffee plantation and car museum, was among the hardest hit by the storm, according to reports by Sierra Maestra, a local newspaper.

Municipal authorities in the region are in the process of cleaning streets choked by fallen debris and fallen power lines, especially in the municipal districts of Guama and Tercer Frente, which were cut off from Santiago when rising rivers made the local highway impassible.

-- MAXWELL J. HAMILTON

Retired coach feasts in hopes food won't go bad

Updated at 3:21 p.m. July 9.

HAVANA -- As Saturday progressed and residents in Havana were still without power or gas for cooking, a retired national sports team coach reached into his refrigerator in the Playa neighborhood and started eating leftovers.

''Better like this than to see it go bad,'' he said, worried that the food he purchased with money sent by his son in Miami a couple of weeks ago would spoil if the power wasn't quickly restored.

``It's not much, but it could last us a couple of weeks or more -- if the electricity comes back.''

His wife hoped that the extra ice she made by freezing water in plastic bags would help keep some items in the Frigidaire at least a couple of days.

If only the coach would stop opening the door.

''Leave that door closed,'' she yelled to him. ``Can't you see you're letting the cold air out?''

-- ELAINE DE VALLE

Life 'normal' in Havana's Lawton neighborhood

Updated at 3:07 p.m. July 9.

HAVANA -- A resident of the Lawton neighborhood of Havana reported no major damages in the area on Saturday.

''Many trees have fallen but no houses,'' Regla Maria Batista, a waitress at Club 21, told the Herald by telephone shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday. ``The damage here was not so much.

``The 10 deaths were in Santiago de Cuba. And it was because of their own negligence. They didn't want to evacuate. ... Many houses have fallen elswhere, but in Lawton nothing big has happened. The power is out, yes. It is out throughout all of Havana.

''But there has been no flooding here. The cars are already driving down the street, normal,'' Batista said. ``All we have now is some rain, but that's all.''

-- ELAINE DE VALLE

Phone lines to Cuba busy, down after Dennis

Updated at 3:05 p.m. July 9

While Cuban Americans in Miami had little trouble reaching relatives in Havana on Friday, Saturday was a different story.

Lines were apparently either too busy or down in many neighborhoods, including Bejucal, Boyeros, Cerro, Diez de Octubre, Marianao, Playa, Plaza and Santo Suarez Saturday morning.

''Your international call cannot be completed as dialed. Please check the number and dial again,'' or ``call your operator for assistance. Zero six six P.''

Or: ``Your call cannot be completed at this time in the country you ar calling. Please try your call later. Zero six six P.''

-- ELAINE DE VALLE

Matanzas hotel reports no damages

Updated at 3:03 p.m. July 9.

MATANZAS -- Tourists at the Hotel Sol Melia on the northern coast of central Cuba were unaffected by Hurricane Dennis.

''We are very accustomed to hurricanes here,'' said a hotel employee. ``I wasn't scared.''

The hotel staff took routine measures to prepare for the storm. She said she had not heard of any deaths or injuries.

-- MAXWELL J. HAMILTON

Toppled trees, home damages reported in Santiago de Cuba

Updated at 2:47 p.m. July 9

SANTIAGO DE CUBA -- Zulema Manzanares, an international operator at the Hotel Melia on Avenida Las Americas in Santiago de Cuba city said that there were really no damages at her hotel, where 85 percent of the rooms were booked. No broken windows. No leaks. Not too many fallen trees.

''We are not near the beach so we are fine,'' she said. ``But I hear that at the Hotel Bucanero they had many damages. The sea rose 15 feet in height and came in.''

She also heard from neighbors and friends who work at the Baconao Aquarium that the attraction had been damaged severely and that some of the sea animals -- dolphins and others -- had escaped through a hole where part of the seawall crumbled.

Manzanares said Cuban government crews were already clearing the ''many, many fallen trees'' when she was on her way to work Saturday morning. She also saw a few homes with roofs and walls collapsed on her drive to the hotel.

``But they were houses that were in bad shape already. Those people had been evacuated for sure.''

She said the two deaths in Santiago de Cuba were people who had refused to evacuate unsafe homes.

''That's craziness,'' she said. ``Una locura.''

-- ELAINE DE VALLE

Sancti Spiritus suffers significant agricultural damage

Updated at 2:45 p.m. July 9.

SANCTI SPIRITUS -- Transportation services unit worker Lazaro Tejada said cargo transportation, driver licenses services, and bus routes were carried out for some time before being suspended.

Tejada said there were no deaths being reported for the area, but that ``the agricultural parts where plantains and corn are grown suffered significant damage.''

-- SAUDY PENA

Havana's Playa neighborhood reports power outages

Updated at 2:39 p.m. July 9

HAVANA -- In the Playa neighborhood of Havana, residents reported no significant damage.

''Nothing happened, but I don't have gas [for cooking] or light [power]. And it's raining a lot,'' said one 56-year-old housewife who did not want to have her name published.

``Around here, everybody is okay. We just haven't gotten any sleep because who can sleep with this heat?''

-- ELAINE DE VALLE

Libraries dry in Santiago de Cuba

Updated as 2:36 p.m. July 9

SANTIAGO DE CUBA -- The 20,000 or so books at the Abel Santamaria municipal library in Santiago de Cuba, on Central Avenue and Trinidad Street, were dry Saturday.

''Thank God no water came in here,'' said a librarian who declined to give her name.

''Nothing really happened around here that was that bad, other than some fallen branches,'' the woman said, adding that her family and friends were also unaffected.

``Everything here is normal.''

The Paquito Borrero municipal library in the Palma Soriano neighborhood of Santiago de Cuba province also fared well.

''We are fine. Thank God,'' said Berta Leyva, a librarian who answered the telephone when the Herald called.

''We didn't have any problems here but we are pretty high up. I hear that in Santiago proper there was a lot of flooding,'' Leyva said.

-- ELAINE DE VALLE

Homes swept away, crops uprooted in Granma province

Updated at 2:35 p.m. July 9

GRANMA -- More than 76 percent of the houses in Niquero and Pilon in the southwestern Cuban province of Granma were totally or partially destroyed by Hurricane Dennis on Friday.

Over 15,000 houses were swept away by the storm's 150 mph winds, according to reports by Granma's provincial newspaper La Demajagua.

Heavy rainfall filled dams in Granma to nearly a third of their total capacity, overloading dams in the mountain towns of Guisa and the municipal district of Bartolome Maso, La Demajagua reported.

In a region suffering from drought, heavy rain was perhaps the only benefit of a storm that destroyed grocery stores, restaurants, ships, cattle farms, offices and wind mills.

According to a report by an agricultural specialist for the Civil Defense Delegation, Cecilio Chi Ricardo, over 4,500 acres of bananas and 3,800 acres of corn were uprooted by the hurricane.

-- MAXWELL J. HAMILTON

News on island traveling slowly

Updated at 8 p.m. July 8.

SANTIAGO DE CUBA -- News of the deaths had yet to reach many Cubans on the island because Dennis wiped out the electricity.

''Everything is absolutely fine here,'' said a woman who lives in central Santiago de Cuba. ``The only thing is we're in the dark, totally isolated. It rained and rained with a lot of wind, and of course I was so scared I was dying. But now everything looks perfect.''

The woman was surprised when she learned of the deaths, stressing that government officials always prepare by evacuating coastal and low-lying areas.

-- FRANCES ROBLES

Grim news from Granma province

Updated at 7:40 p.m. July 8.

CABO CRUZ -- Lazaro Esposito, first secretary of the Communist Party in Granma province, sounded dejected as he reported by phone to Fidel Castro on live TV and radio Friday night.

Damage to Granma was ''extremely heavy,'' he said, and ''the people felt beaten.'' In the cities of Pilon and Niquero, ''the destruction was very deep. . . . The situation is very complicated,'' the official said.

The storm ''flogged Cabo Cruz very hard,'' Esposito said.

Esposito gave more details about some of the casualties, describing the death of two sisters in their mid-50s who had refused to be evacuated from their home in Pilon. After they hid under a bed, a wall collapsed and crushed them.

''We should have forced them to leave,'' Esposito said with frustration.

A similar fate befell a 13-year-old in Niqueros, who was crushed to death when the roof collapsed. Other people were killed by falling debris, the official said.

-- RENATO PEREZ

Storm shift could imperil Havana

Updated at 6:45 p.m. July 8.

Chief meteorologist Jose Rubiera said on TV that Dennis would exit Cuba between 9 and 11 p.m. Friday between Havana and Santa Cruz del Norte. He cautioned that even a minor shift by the storm in a north-northwesterly direction would mean the city of Havana could be hit head on.

Rubiera urged residents of Havana to maintain ''extreme caution.'' He said a shift in Dennis' path was possible because of the storm's motion over land.

-- RENATO PEREZ

TV-radio tower is toppled

Updated at 6:40 p.m. July 8.

Reports from the province of Cienfuegos said storm winds toppled the transmission towers of a local television station and the radio station Ciudad del Mar.

On the Isle of Youth, officials of the Institute of Hydraulic Resources kept a cautious eye on the island's 14 reservoirs, which had risen to 72 percent capacity. Jose Luis Murgado, an institute official, told the National Information Agency that six of the reservoirs were being drained to keep pace with the heavy rainfall.

In Santiago de Cuba, 85 percent of the homes were without electricity or telephone. According to power company officials, more than 100 transformers blew during the storm and ''a high number'' of power lines were downed by the wind. Officials said repairs would take days.

RENATO PEREZ

Castro reports 10 deaths

Updated at 6:35 p.m. July 8.

As Dennis plowed through Cuba Friday afternoon, the first announcement of casualties was made. Eight people died in Granma province and two died in Santiago de Cuba province, killed by debris or drowned in fast-rising rivers, Fidel Castro revealed during an appearance on the Round Table TV program.

''We have 10 casualties,'' Castro said. He gave no further details, other than two of them were children.

RENATO PEREZ

Storm's power provokes awe

Updated at 6:30 p.m. July 8.

In Colon, Matanzas, strong winds roared and heavy rain pounded on the roof as Elsa Arencibia hovered around a homemade radio to stay up to date about the storm track.

''The meteorologist says the wind gusts are now up to 118 miles per hour,'' Arencibia, 45, said as she sat in the waning light with her husband and mother-in-law Friday afternoon. ``It's just coming for us now.''

Authorities turned the power off Friday morning, Arencibia said as she peeked out a small window of her cement block home.

''There's a lot of rain, trees are down, and some roofs have blown away,'' said Arencibia, in awe that the streets were already flooded.

''So far, we haven't seen any houses down and we haven't heard of any deaths,'' she said. ``We have to wait until this is over before we really know how bad it is.''

Arencibia said although her family had decided against evacuating, an estimated 6,000 Matanzas residents had sought shelter in nearby schools.

''This house is strong enough,'' Arencibia said, adding that she felt prepared enough to last through the punch. ``We have milk, bread and rice. We're good for now.''

-- YUDY PINEIRO

Damage minimal at Guantanamo

Updated at 5 p.m. July 8.

GUANTANAMO -- With Hurricane Dennis bringing just a little rain and light winds, military officials decided not to evacuate terrorist detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

Damage was light at the US Naval Station -- downed tree limbs and siding peeling off of townhouses. ''Frankly we were expecting a bit more,'' said Major Jeff Weir, a public affairs officer for the military. ``We were quite disappointed.''

The naval base has pre-storm preparations like any major US city, said Weir.

Contrary to initial reports, a volleyball tower, not a lifeguard tower, was thrown into the surf by the storm.

-- MAXWELL J. HAMILTON

Business as usual for cafe

Updated at 4:15 p.m. July 8.

HOLGUIN -- Restaurant chef Demetrio Contreras said the rains were not very heavy in Holguin, capital city of the province by the same name. Managers of the Pico Cristal Restaurant were planning to stay open until the regular 11 p.m. closing time, he added.

Contreras said business has been slow but that he's still preparing dishes for a handful of clients.

''The weather is not bad in our area.'' he said. ``But it does look like most people are just staying home.''

-- SAUDY PENA

`Everything is very calm'

Updated at 3:30 p.m. July 8.

BAYAMO -- An employee at a shoe factory in the southeastern province of Granma said damage to the area around Bayamo had been slight. ''Everything is very calm. People are staying in their houses,'' Diego Aliega said in a telephone interview with The Herald.

While most of the local population had been evacuated in preparation for the storm, he stayed behind. ''I was not scared. Last night I stayed at home and watched television,'' Aliega said.

-- MAXWELL J. HAMILTON

'Serious material damage' in part of Cuba

Updated at 3:25 p.m. July 8.

HAVANA -- Dennis left ''serious material damage'' throughout Santiago de Cuba, the official National Information Agency reported Friday. The damage was caused by sea penetration and strong winds that brought down trees and power lines, the agency said.

In Santiago de Cuba province, hundreds of houses were reported damaged, partially collapsed or with roofs blown away, particularly in the cities of Santiago de Cuba and Guama. About 85 percent of the population was left without power.

At the resort hotel Bucanero, the swimming pool, restaurant and coffee shot were destroyed, NIA reported. Other tourist resorts suffered lesser damages.

Wind gusts were clocked at 150 miles per hour in Gran Piedra, 166 mph at Antonio Maceo International Airport and 154 mph in several areas of the city of Santiago de Cuba.

The coastal area of Siboney was pummeled by 30-foot waves, which swamped the houses closest to the sea. No casualties were reported, presumably because most people along the coast had been evacuated to safe ground. More than 60,000 people were evacuated in Santiago de Cuba, NIA said.

In Santa Cruz del Sur, the hardest-hit city in Camaguey province, the damage was limited to power lines, roofs and trees, according to civil defense officials questioned by NIA. Wind gusts there rose to 100 miles per hour.

In the province of Sancti Spiritus, more than 200,000 were evacuated from low-lying areas along the southern coast.

Pinar del Rio province did not expect to be struck head-on by Dennis, but preventive measures were taken there just the same. More than 28,000 people were evacuated from coastal areas and placed in 156 shelters.

About 65,000 heads of cattle were moved to high ground. Tons of tobacco being cured were moved to safe warehouses. Crops were hurriedly harvested, and about 16,000 tons of food was placed in safe storage. All fishing vessels were brought ashore, the national news agency reported.

-- RENATO PEREZ

`I have no fear'

Updated at 2:50 p.m. July 8.

CAMAGUEY -- Hotel worker Eloisa Gonzalez says business is running as usual. ``I have no fear, nor do my co-workers, she said. Gonzalez said the rains in the area have subsided and all her co-workers are going through their normal routines, although it is slower than usual. She said the day looks so nice outside some of her guests were going for a walk in the city. -- SAUDY PENA

Storm weakens slightly upon landfall

Updated at 2 p.m. July 8.

MIAMI -- Dennis was making landfall over Cienfuegos, Cuba, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm was still powerful, although a Hurricane Hunter plane reportered winds had weakened slightly to 145 mph.

''It's a very powerful hurricane,'' said Ed Rappaport, the NHC's deputy director. ``It's going to be causing damaging conditions over Cuba for the next 12 hours.''

-- DAVID OVALLE

Family vows not to leave

Updated at 2 p.m. July 8.

HAVANA -- In the Playa neighborhood of Havana, Iraida Linares bit her nails while her husband secured the doors and windows of their apartment early Friday afternoon.

''I don't even know why I'm doing this,'' the man told The Herald in a telephone interview. ``If it passes right over us, no amount of tape will hold these windows here.''

He said he and his wife were ready, as were most neighbors, because the government had been warning islanders for days. ''They have been announcing it since it was in Africa, in the Minor Antilles,'' Linares said.

The television was already in 24-hour emergency mode: airing where Dennis was now, how strong it was, where people could go for shelter.

Linares and her husband took some of the money their son in Miami sent recently to buy extra food supplies, should shortages become worse after the storm passes, but made no plans to leave the fourth-floor apartment.

''We'll get in the bathroom if it gets really bad,'' Linares said.

Her husband was concerned more for the neighbors who didn't seem worried enough to prepare.

''The showers are short. It will rain a while and when it stops it's beautiful out here, very sunny,'' he said.

``The beautiful day makes people think that it's not coming.''

-- ELAINE DE VALLE

Landfall near Cienfuegos

Updated at 1:45 p.m. July 8.

CIENFUEGOS -- Dennis landed on Cuba with a Category 4 thud and 144-miles-per-hour winds at 1 p.m. Friday, reported chief meteorologist Jose Rubiera.

''It made land at 1 p.m. at a spot very close to Cienfuegos,'' he said. ''It now carries 144-miles-per-hour winds with gusts of 177 miles per hour.'' Rubiera described it as ``a well-developed Category 4 hurricane, almost Category 5.''

-- RENATO PEREZ

Updated at 11 a.m. July 8.

SANTIAGO -- An employee at the Hotel Melia in the southeastern city of Santiago said damage to the hotel and surrounding area was light.

''We don't have electricity, but besides fallen trees there is not much damage,'' she said in a phone interview.

No deaths or injuries have been reported, she added.

-- MAXWELL J. HAMILTON

In the Playa neighborhood of Havana, Iraida Linares bit her nails while her husband secured the doors and windows of their apartment early Friday afternoon.

''I don't even know why I'm doing this,'' the man told The Herald in a telephone interview. ``If it passes right over us, no amount of tape will hold these windows here.''

The television was already in 24-hour emergency mode: airing where Dennis was now, how strong it was, where people could go for shelter.

''We'll get in the bathroom if it gets really bad,'' Linares said.

Her husband was concerned more for the neighbors who didn't seem worried enough to prepare.

''The showers are short. It will rain a while and when it stops it's beautiful out here, very sunny,'' he said.

``The beautiful day makes people think that it's not coming.''

'Extensive and severe' damage expected

Updated at 9:45 a.m. July 8.

HAVANA -- Havana Radio reported the storm's center over the coastal city of Trinidad, in Sancti Spiritus province, moving northwest at 17 kph (11 mph). Forecasters believe the storm will go inland and emerge on the northern coast of either Matanzas or Havana province.

''Extensive and severe'' damage is reported to the coastal areas of Granma province, especially the cities of Pilon and Manzanillo. Pilon and Niquero are reportedly cut off by mudslides. At 9:30 a.m., there was a tentative report on Havana Radio of three casualties, people killed by falling trees in Granma province; the report has not been repeated.

In Havana, civil defense authorities speeded up the evacuation of residents of about 2,000 homes that were not considered to be safe.

Havana is expected to suffer serious flooding. The Malecon (coastal boulevard) will most likely flood in the next several hours, authorities said.

-- RENATO PEREZ

Cabo Cruz sideswiped

Updated at 9:25 a.m. July 8.

CABO CRUZ -- The Cuban Meteorological Institute reported that Dennis at midnight sideswiped Cabo Cruz, on the westernmost tip of Granma province. ''The fury of dangerous Hurricane Dennis is directed at the central and western regions of Cuba,'' the CMI report said. ``It is possible it will strengthen a bit more before it touches land in Cuba.''

The storm was expected to hit the mainland at mid-morning Friday, between the provinces of Sancti Spiritus and Cienfuegos. At 8 a.m., it was reported to have a central pressure of 955 hectoPascal, with 215 kmph winds (129 mph) and gusts of 260 kph (156 mph). It moved at 24 kph (14.5 mph).

Thursday evening, Fidel Castro appeared on national TV to participate in the Round Table discussion of current events. He said Dennis ''will cause great damage'' but added that measures are being taken to mitigate its impact.

''This cyclone will fail and we shall repair the damage,'' he said. ''We have a valuable machinery of organization and defense that works like a clock.'' What's most important is ''to save the people. Not a single life should be lost,'' he said. Castro asked Cubans to face the storm ``with discipline.''

-- RENATO PEREZ

Pace of evacuations hastens

Updated at 9 a.m. July 8.

As Dennis shifted direction to the northwest, the pace of evacuations in Villa Clara province hastened at dawn Friday, in the expectation that the storm might slice northward through the island, between Villa Clara and Matanzas provinces. The northern coast of Villa Clara prepared for that eventuality. Intermittent rain fell over Villa Clara at dawn.

Reports from Camaguey province, hit Thursday night and in the early hours of Friday, said that the coastal city of Santa Cruz del Sur was ``heavily damaged.''

-- RENATO PEREZ

Residents of Santiago de Cuba cleaning up

Updated at 8:30 a.m. July 8.

SANTIAGO DE CUBA -- In Santiago de Cuba province, residents emerged from their homes to pick up the debris from the streets and electrical workers repaired downed lines, Havana Radio reported Friday morning. Wind damage was reported as ''serious'' but no human casualties were reported. By dawn, both wind and rain had eased over Santiago de Cuba province.

The Granma Highway, which links the cities of Santiago de Cuba and Pilon in Granma province, to the west, was damaged by mudslides.

Two towns -- Gran Piedra in Granma, and Guama in Santiago de Cuba -- were said to be cut off by mudslides.

-- RENATO PEREZ

156-mph gusts in Ciego de Avila

Updated at 8:15 a.m. July 8.

On its 8 a.m. newscast, Havana Radio reported that the central province of Ciego de Avila was being hit Friday morning by winds of maximum sustained speed of 215 kilometers per hour (129 mph) with gusts up to 260 kph (156 mph).

The newscast said that Dennis poses ''great and imminent danger'' to Cuba. The central provinces of Sancti Spiritus, Cienfuegos and Villa Clara are expected to suffer the main brunt of the storm on Friday afternoon. Intense rains are expected today throughout the three-province region, which has been placed on a state of ''hurricane alarm,'' the highest level of safety warning.

-- RENATO PEREZ