Cuba: Weathering the Storm

by Martha Thompson, Izaskun Gaviria

Cuba is a case study in successful disaster risk reduction. At the national level, Cuba's disaster legislation, public education on disasters, meteorological research, early warning system, effective communication system for emergencies, comprehensive emergency plan, and Civil Defense structure are important resources in avoiding disaster. At the local level, high levels of literacy, developed infrastructure in rural areas and access to reliable health care are crucial for national efforts in disaster mitigation, preparation and response. Weathering the Storm: Lessons in Risk Reduction from Cuba presents a comprehensive overview of the Cuban model of risk reduction in disaster mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery, and explores what may be adapted from this model in other countries. The report focuses on specific recommendations for Central America.

68 pages, Unknown Binding

Published April 26, 2004

Reviews

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cuba never chose to be so impacted by extreme weather events, which have been wildly exacerbated by climate change. In fact, it is the country which scores highest on Jason Hickel's Sustainable Development Index (SDI), a measure of how low environmental damage is relative to human welfare. (Hickel's 2019 paper on SDI is worth a read.) Yet "[d]isasters seek out the [world's] poor and ensure that they remain poor.", in Didier Cherpitat's words.

Despite being forced into coping with numerous devastating hurricanes and sea levels rising while under a sadistic economic blockade, Cuba has a model response to saving lives when natural disasters strike. When we compare the deaths from hurricanes per capita of Cuban and American people living in vulnerable areas, Cuba's are 11 times lower.

This report is fascinating for understanding why the country does so well and deserves to be read in full. It provides a broad view of its elements of success, starting with the socioeconomic and cultural transformation of the country; this has highly reduced the population's vulnerability during times of crisis. Dr. Ben Wisner's "Lessons from Cuba?" identified a "golden dozen" factors which may improve disaster response; though he does not weigh in conclusively, these are arguably key to successful socialist projects and--regardless of whether one believes this to apply to Cuba--are focused on there, too.

The report also describes the organisational preparation and response to hurricanes, which can also serve as a good primer on Cuba's combination of a "centralized decision-making process" with a "a decentralized implementation process". Maybe I'm just a nerd for this kinda stuff, but I enjoyed learning so much from it!

Read it here.