There are also women shaping the high tension towers at kilometer 32. Photo: Estudios Revolución
Aida Calderín is over 80 years old and has seen many cyclones pass through her life. The one of Wednesday, November 6 -Rafael- took two fiber cement roof tiles from her roof. Her neighbors, before Artemisa's recovery began to take shape, saved her roof.Seven days later, the President of the National Defense Council, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, arrived at his simple house, and for the third time since the passage of the meteorological event, he toured the province of Artemisa, the hardest hit by the strong winds of the hurricane.He went there hand in hand with Dinorah Acosta Fernández, delegate of District 7, in Reparto Nuevo, a courageous woman who explained to him what the neighbors have been doing, together with the forces of several agencies of the Central State Administration, to recover from the damages left by Rafael, a hurricane that entered the province with category three and sustained winds of more than 180 kilometers per hour. Solidarity, the president said, has prevailed in that area. Díaz-Canel explained to the neighbors that support is arriving from all over the country, and new brigades continue to be incorporated to the recovery. Here, he said, work is being done on three fundamental priorities: sanitation, electricity and water pumping.I know that you, he acknowledged, are desperate because of the lack of electricity, but the effort being made is titanic, there is a lot of destruction, and it is a very hard work, he considered."I believe that work has been done with organization, with willingness, everyone has come to support," Díaz-Canel stressed.You, the neighbors, he said, keep helping the forces that are coming. We are going to get out, he reiterated, we are going to get out by ourselves, because nobody is going to solve our problems. A group of decisions have been made, and there are things that are going to be better than before the hurricane. For example, the pumping issue in a group of places is going to have a solution, the hospitals are going to be better, he assured.He explained that resources began to arrive to the province for the recovery of housing, in a first moment for the partial and total damages of roofs -which are more than 50 % of the affectations in the province-, also for the partial and total collapses. We cannot stop one thing to start another, he clarified.With everyone's help, he affirmed, no one will be left helpless.HURRICANE OF RECOVERY AT THE CIRO REDONDO HOSPITALIn his tour of Artemisa -accompanied by the member of the Political Bureau of the Party and its first secretary in the territory, Gladys Martínez Verdecia, and Governor Ricardo Concepción Rodríguez- the Head of State visited the Ciro Redondo Hospital, which suffered great damage to windows and roofs, due to the force of the winds.According to Dr. Niurka Larrionda Valdés, director of the institution, "the structure of the center was damaged, but not human lives or medical equipment."The main damage caused by the cyclone in our hospital, she emphasized, was the fall of the glass windows of the Intensive Care Unit, the Perinatal Care Room and the Hemodialysis Service. In addition, there were water leaks and the fall of the "drop ceiling" in different services.At the moment, he said, we are immersed in a major recovery process. The patients in the wards damaged by the hurricane were moved to a safe place; there was no need to take them to another hospital, nor to stop any medical service, said the Director.RAISING TOWERS, ANOTHER FEATFor several days, at kilometer 32 of the highway that goes to Pinar del Río, there has been an intense hustle and bustle; a brigade of electricians is assembling six high tension towers of the 220 kV line, destroyed by the strong winds of the hurricane.On the two occasions that President Díaz-Canel has been in Artemisa, after the passage of the hurricane, he has stopped at that point of the road to exchange with the workers (some of them are women) who, under the imposing sun, are shaping the new towers.Adalberto Domínguez Álvarez, head of the Lines Department of the Electric Industry Construction Company, explained that the passage of the hurricane knocked down six metallic structures of the 220 kV line that links the municipality of Mariel with Pinar del Río.The work now, he explained, consists first of removing the downed structures, to later assemble them right here. "We plan to assemble a structure every three days", which adds up to 18 days of hard work, plus a few more that are needed to put the transmission line back into operation.These works have not prevented electricity from reaching Pinar del Río - already linked to the National Electric System through the 110 kV line. Although, the specialist pointed out, the 220 kV line gives greater reliability and quality to the energy that reaches Pinar del Río.IN BEJUCAL, LESS AND LESS ENTANGLEDIn the town of Bejucal and its surroundings, daily life is resuming. Brigades of the Electric Company and Etecsa (phone company), which are finishing the details in the power lines, are among the memories of the passage of Hurricane Rafael, as well as the accumulation of vegetal debris on the outskirts of the small town.Along with Quivicán and Batabanó, this municipality was among the hardest hit by the weather phenomenon. The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, arrived early to one of the areas where the linemen were carrying out the day's work, Cuatro Caminos.Here all the poles of both lines were knocked to the ground by the force three hurricane winds. They are all in place.Together with the first secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Yuniasky Crespo Baquero, and other authorities of the province and the municipality, the president learned that in Mayabeque the electric service covers more than 93% of customers, and telephony, 84%.The objective is to complete both services this week, except in isolated places and the unforeseen events that always occur.In Bejucal, electricity is 97% restored; but on his return to Mayabeque to supervise the recovery process, Díaz-Canel inquired about the situation in La Salud and Camacho, among the most affected communities, and where it has not yet been possible to make as much progress as desired in the rehabilitation of electricity and water supply.On the availability of roofs and other construction materials to recover the houses, the Head of State asked the Minister of Construction, René Mesa Villafaña, who explained the availability of light roofing and other resources.Díaz-Canel asked to speed up the repair of partially damaged roofs, so that by the end of the year it will not be a pending issue. And he indicated to speed up the collection of solid waste and to do it with quality. "Everything has to be better than before," he insists again and again.The First Secretary of the Party's Central Committee then visited the National Center of Biopreparations (Biocen), belonging to the Biocubafarma business group, where he talked with its director, Doctor in Sciences Tamara Lovaina Rodríguez, about the situation with one of the essential machines of the production process, the turbocompressor, which after being stopped before the passage of the hurricane, as a preventive measure, has not been able to start.The hurricane did not cause major damage to the building or to the technological processes. The engineers have decided, as an alternative, to switch the engine of a turbocharger that is not in use to the one that was on line and to resume production shortly. This, they explained, is the fastest variant.The President then visited the social axis of the town of Bejucal, the Maceo-Gomez Park, which, in spite of suffering some damage to its trees and buildings, has been restored.In order to "raise the bar", it was decided to paint some of the centers that surround it, such as the house of culture and the saf, and now the goal is to rescue the high school -although not completely, it lacks a roof- and reopen it in the coming Charangas de Bejucal, in December.Díaz-Canel talked with Bejucal residents who came to receive him, whom he praised for the speed with which they have been recovering from the damages caused by the hurricane, although some issues will take more time, such as housing.The President toured the Rosa Elena Simeón Negrín teaching polyclinic, which barely suffered any damage, especially due to the placement of a waterproof blanket on the roof, which solved the leaks it had been suffering for some time.Dr. Annel Modoy Rodríguez, its director, informed that the hospital serves a population of more than 28,000 people and, as a rule, receives 137 cases daily. With 11 medical specialties and more than twenty medical offices, health workers in Bejucal accumulate, among their results, zero infant mortality and zero maternal mortality.
Photo: Estudios Revolución
Photo: Estudios Revolución
