Cuba’s experiences in the protection of human lives and economic resources are shared with other Caribbean nations through methodological advice, stated Idalmis Saura Hernández, project coordinator for the Area of Risks and Disasters of the UN Development Program (PNUD).
The results of the Cuban model of Risk Reduction Management Centers are being shared with Jamaica, Guyana, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and the British Virgin Islands, in order to provide these countries with concepts which they can implement in accordance with the characteristics of their own nations, she commented.
“Civil Defense experts and those from other institutions such as the National Institute of Water Resources and the Cuban Environmental Agency, offer, above all, the integrated vision which with prevention is realized.”
During the encounter between organisms from the UN and Cuba on the important issue of natural disaster preparation, a workshop was held in order to strengthen the Early Warning System for hydro-meteorological events, created in Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Holguín and Las Tunas after hurricane Sandy passed through the country’s southeastern region in October 2012.
Also highlighted during the event was the final stage of the project based on advanced technical equipment, which has been acquired and is used for forecasting and decision making.
The new equipment includes three satellite receiver stations installed at the Institute of Meteorology and 12 automatic meteorological stations, distributed in at-risk and difficult to reach areas, namely costal and mountainous zones.
By Germán Veloz Placencia, Digital Granma Internacional
November 11, 2014
