7-12-05,7:50am

Havana, Jul 11 (Prensa Latina) Cuban President Fidel Castro announced Monday the island is preparing the strategy to replace or repair dwellings lost or affected by Hurricane Dennis, which left 11 people dead and severe losses in its wake.

Cuba Assesses Hurricane Damage

President Fidel Castro appeared on the regular Cuban roundtable TV program Monday, along with leaders of the Communist Party of Cuba from several of the affected Cuban provinces.

Fidel Castro said Cuba has the capacity to make 600 hurricane-resistant roofs a day, and previous plans to build 50,000 dwellings this year and 100,000 in 2006 will be extended, with immediate delivery of corrugated roofing and metal clamps to the provinces of Granma, Cienfuegos and Sancti Spiritus, which suffered significant damage to housing. In the surrounding area of Cabo Cruz, 90 percent of dwellings lost their roofs, the majority of which were made of light materials.

Cuba is working hard to recover from the damage left by Dennis, reestablishing basic services such as drinkable water and electricity.

For example, Cienfuegos faces considerable water supply problems due to the downing of high-tension wires resulting in no electricity to run the pumps.

Lazara Mercedes Lopez Acea, first secretary of the Cienfuegos branch of the Cuban Communist Party said of the 1.5 million living in the province, 126,300 people were evacuated to safety.

It was announce during the program that Cienfuegos' water supply will be reestablished within hours, following the repair of the sources feeding the power supply.

In both Cienfuegos and Havana, floods followed the course Hurricane Dennis, endangering many towns. Rapid mobilization of the regional defense councils, rescue forces, members of the Armed Forces and other institutions ensured the prompt rescue and protection of the affected population.

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