Rock U like a hurricane

[Punch Joe]

Today is Friday. Sorry for not getting back earlier. This has been a disaster. Only worse to Hurricane Freddy back in 1976 when I was child. Still I can remember it. I´m at the office at the moment.

Monday 8. Started the day at the office. Internet is off, at least unstable. Striking News: Got a call from a friend who works in a gas station (CUPET) telling me the increasing on diesel and gas in 50 %. Couldn’t believe at first. I was going to refill and then they rejected the card saying that I have to adjust it to the new prices. Got the picture? In the middle of this crisis, any official statement from the government has been released warning the people about it. Food is next. Mark my words. Run to my place to secure the house since it’s windy and cloudy already. At night, the TV announced in a short note for the people to be aware of recharging cards according to the new increase, otherwise they won’t get the card accepted. Diesel was 70 c a liter. Now, 1.60 cuc. Special 94 Octane is now at 1.65 cuc one liter. Unleaded: I don’t want to know. :-( Whoever I spoke to about it, is really upset. Lovely way to start a hurricane watch. Couldn’t they wait to next week? Diplomats (black plates) at the gas station in Miramar were freakin’out and it looked like they were on strike. I was there at 84 St and 13 near the Comodoro Hotel. This increase is going to put the boteros out of the game. Transportation is facing a crisis since last January, somehow relieved by Chinese buses that started to operate early this year the aforementioned boteros (owners of Fords, Oldsmobile and Chevys who charge passengers 10 cuban pesos for a single route) Back to my place I saw long queues at the Supermarket. Everybody’s on the rush as the weather starts to deteriorate. :-(

Eric Cartman on my shoulder told me to duck and cover. A shot of rum. It’s blackened. Turn the ipod on to listen to the newsI have packed our stuff already in case of an emergency. Ingrid is making coffee. Yummy! We have no power. It’s 11:30 pm. Winds are getting stronger. I light up a Cohiba Pyramid. Been listening to some tunes. Someone is knocking at my door to get me evacuated. “Listen buddy, I know what I’ve got, I know it’s getting ugly, and I know you are not doing this for me but for statistics, so nick off please” :-|

Sad news on the radio: 4 people dead. Gusting reaching 75 miles per hour. Gotta go sleep for a while.

At daybreak, river is making waves. Two pine trees are down. Fish and birds are gone. Crazy. Winds are scary. I got a phone from a friend who is asking me to leave the house immediately. Relax, man you are fifteen minutes away and I’ve got everything under control. No need to panic. Matanzas is being battered after waves surged on Cienfuegos. Phone my buddy in Sta Clara and said it was raining a great deal since the early hours but no winds. He is about to break. Water coming in through the windows and the soil is way too saturated. Now the radio is dead for 5 minutes. Ooops! Branches are flying outside. Thought the world is over. Antennas are down. Radio is back. Turned the mobile on. Not working but I tuned a couple of stations a bit out of range. It’s a Sony Ericsson for Christ’s sake. :-D That confirmed the idea as one of the best devices ever. Making some instant coffee for us two. Ike is heading out west. Again! And following the same route across Pinar. I looked for a morning cigar. The best I could find was a Punch. Turn the Palm Tungsten E2 and music started to play through the tiny speaker. Lovely.

9:00 am The sky is really dark. Objects of any kind are flying outside. We spotted a colibri flying around the flowers. Must be crazy hungry.

11:00 am Getting lunch ready. Running out of crackers by now. No power. Strong winds.

12:00 After eating macaronis with tomato soup and parmegiano. I called Robaina up. To my surprise they are Ok, but a lot of rain told me Hiroshi’s wife. Lots of friends and growers are in the farm to ensure a better company and shelter. Started our little tournament of poker and drinking rum again.

1:00 pm. Next Stop. Partagas old stock. ;-) Coronas Senior 2003. Woody and spicy. Deep tobacco notes and earthy taste. Rain has come. Started to look for leaks. I have 2 or 3 spread all over the house so as to keep me entertained.

3:00 pm. After several phone calls all the family reported they are fine. Still no power. I txt messaged janet (hamlet’s wife) SMS service is not working. She will get it later. Keep downing the rum bottle. Time for a customized Hamlet. A hard stick with perfect draw, yet a little milder and quite aromatic to my taste. (should be one of those ***** smokes I always reject but finally take, can’t remember):-)

4: 00 pm Have no power. Windy. I’m growing concern on the situation. Radio keeps telling people to stay safe. Ike is about to leave the Island after devastating the same areas that Gustav did in Pinar. It’s been a long day for us here. 2 hurricanes in less than 8 days , not mentioning Fay that wasthe first one to hit DR and North East Cuba before Gustav. Dmas at South Havana opened doors. Flooding watch is announced for lower areas. Looking closely to the river. So far is quiet. It’s raining heavy I can’t see a thing 50 foot in front of me. Pinar is reporting 2 meters high waves surging through mainland. The sea first pulled back 300 meters and now is coming back in the shape of furious waves. Ike is saying good bye en route to the Gulf. Seems the end of the nightmare but don’t be fooled. Devastation is about to show off. The Island would look as a village. :-(

5:00 pm Ipod’s batteries at half. Palm E2 almost unaware. Steve Job wouldn’t be so proud now. :-P

6:00 pm Last weather report is saying that a beauty calm is expected since the Atlantic is now quiet. I won’t let my guard down anyway, I know more events may happen. It’s an active season.

8:00 pm. Too windy. Heavy rain. Off to bed in no time.

Wednesday 10.

7:00 am still dark and very cloudy, not so windy. Coffee and sausages for breakfast. No power yet. (Almost 48 hours.) Unstoppable rain. :-|

12:00 Lunch time. Steaks and chickpeas with pepper and garlic. Time for a Monte 2 afterwards. Radio announced that power is not going to be on in the next 12 hours also that no transportation service is working. Supermarkets are closed. Got for a walk while smoking. The panorama is sad. Rain stopped for half and hour and now is even worse. Back at home a radio announcer is blaming on the hurricane the situation our economy has gone through in the past years. What’s next? Spin Doctors? I feel sorrow for my fellow comrades in Pinar who were barred twice. All along the country are thousands of homes down or partially destroyed. Think all of us have already paid for our future sins.

8:00 pm Guess what? NO power. Palm versus Ipod update. (Steve lost 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rounds and is about to die) I can state Palm’s energy saving and economy achieved a better performance. Tomorrow, supermarkets are the battlefields. A friend cried out over the phone that her food is all spoiled. Frozen chickens are now stinking and the fish ended up in the cat’s belly. 70% of the population is facing the same or worse. The entire country should be declared a disaster zone. Can’t imagine how to deal with this as a country, specially if more hurricanes are in route. Not a word about tobacco yet. The radio now speaks about the Miami 5 who are worried for the Cuban people. If they return some day, they hardly recognize the country as it is right now. Radio continues talking about destruction, famine, world food crisis, terrorism and anything unrelated to our own problems. Classic. Coffee, Cocoa and beans are in danger. I’m afraid this may trigger prices up. :-( :-( :-( :-( :-(

9:00 pm Calm again. Preparing lemonade again. A Hoyo de Monterrey is chosen to crown the day. Dinner is ready. Only in Havana 125 houses are down. Over 800 are damaged at the moment. Till tomorrow mates. I’m off the air in no time.

11:00 pm I spotted the first star in days. Still no power. Told you mates! We (FOH members) shall never surrender. ;-)

Thursday 11

Walking the city in the morning. ****. Trees down, people sweeping trash and waiting on the corners for the water service to come. A couple of friends are drinking rum and they seem to be awake since Monday. People is really tired this morning. Spiritually.

Lunch time: Smashed potatoes, eggs and bread. Makes me think I´m fortunate. Talked to my son early this morning and he is willing to attend to school. He is bored. I´m sad since I have to go 8 km by foot to see him. Can´t even think in driving with all the trees , the people running, the lines in the Supermarkets. Schools are closed until next week. Fortunately, all the family is OK and they have food enough to deal this week. Hamlet´s family is OK as well.

6:00 pm. Burning up a Romeo y Julieta old stock in a friend’s house who lives nearby. Talking about the future weeks, months..etc. We all concur is gonna be hard and ugly for many. Luckily this friend has power so we are now able to see the destruction through a TV Chopper camera. I don´t want to keep looking.

9:50 pm. After 72 hours we finally have power. Off to sleep. I´m exhausted. :-)

[anacostiakat]

Not good! Keep the faith!

[Miami101]

Miami Feels you!

Hurricane are a way of life down here.................Good luck hope things work out.

[cohiba]

Jose,

I cant imagine living the story you just told! Sheilla understands the hurricanes situation, i only understand earthquakes!

My hat is off to you, alot of respect. Glad to hear you and family are good. Keep your head high, as you are.

Your all in our prayers!

Your friend,

Stan

[gostgost]

Jose,

Stay strong we are all very happy to hear you and you're family are well. I could never live with that fear every year. You are a strong man.

Be well my friend.

[greenpimp]

Jose,

Thanks for your report and I sure hope this is the last big storm to hit you guys this season.

[Tampa1257]

Jose,

As painful as your week has been, it is refreshing to hear the truth about what is happening in Cuba. The News here does not bring out what is really happening for the people of Cuba. Thank you for bringing out the truth. Be well and be safe!

[Punch Joe]

Tampa, glad to hear from you and the other members as well.

AS hard as it gets to track info, I did my homework early this morning

As of todayIn Cuba: 30 000 houses completely down

Pinar: 60 % of houses are down

Holguín: 90 000 houses damaged

Havana update: 180 000 houses are classified as either in regular or bad conditions. Can´t stand the direct impact of next hurricanes for sure.

50% of the crops are lost. Difficult to get this since the Agriculture Ministry doesn´t release all the information.

Sugar canes fields and sugar mills seriously affected.

Calculations on the estimated damage: around 2. 800 millions euros. Listen buddies, this amount represents one third of the Island´s total turn over in 2007. :-( really bad.

Next weeks are going to be critical, either for good or bad. People are getting tired of hearing non sense on the news. :-| Keep you posted.

Carlos, aka M101. Where does your family live? Hope they are safe. Let me know. I can pass by and make sure they have all things under control. Most importantly right now is that they are alive and well.

Also we must stay strong for the days to come.

If not able to post regularly, please give me some time. I have many things on my head now.

[El Presidente]

Great report mate.

Let us know if there is anything you need or can do. I think we have two FOH members arriving in Havana this month and we can always arrange something if need be.

[Tampa1257]

Jose,

I hope that you don't mind, but I shared your story and news update with others that have a passion for those who live and work in Cuba. Your words were so compelling that I thought others should read and understand just what has been going on where you live. I look forward to hearing from you soon my friend!

Chuck

Tampa1257

[Ken Gargett]

hi jose

pleased to hear you are well and hamlet also. tragic about the devastation. have sent a few emails that might eventually get through. nything we can do, let us know. stay safe and see you in feb.