Two blankets for the affected: tiles and sensibility
In Santiago de Cuba more than 137 000 housing units suffered some form of damage because of the hurricane.
Luis Alberto Portuondo | internet@granma.cu
16th December 2025
As resources arrive they are assigned to people according to priority. Picture by Luis Alberto Portuondo
Santiago de Cuba. –When Obed Estrada Núñez saw the roof of his home partially destroyed by the winds of hurricane Melissa, he tried to recover as many roof tiles as he could «I tried to recover as many as I could with help from neighbors in the hope of re-establishing the top». María Ramos Ferrer was not as lucky because everything was destroyed «and my husband and I are older adults». Both are residents of the head of the municipality and are still waiting for the visit of the commission evaluating damages that would then proceed to deliver resources they need.
The other face of the coin was found at the Processing Office (Oficina de Trámites) of the Defense Zone (ZD) Enma Rosa Chuy. «My forms have been approved already and I am going now to the point of sale to pick up the tiles I need», she assured me, said Edita Delás Mendoza, from the San Luis municipality.
«Here we work seven days a week because of the arrival of tiles and other building materials, more than 150 families have already received resources, and we move forward to deal with 718 cases already approved by the commission from a total of 872», said to Granma María Agustina Rosales Portuondo, who heads this office and who never forget the hard work she had lived in October 2012, «after the Sandy cyclone which seriously hit our province, and I was the one dealing with it as I had the same kind of responsibilities».
Minutes after Edita received her tiles at the point of sale.
The Council of Municipal Defense (CDM) destined many trucks from the transportation base, «with the goal of delivering the resources assigned to each house; the state assumes expenses and I would be willing to work until we complete the last transport», said Luis Suárez Ramírez, driver of one of the trucks.
There were 137 554 housing units affected that, until this moment, are still being counted in the province. «The commission functioning to this effect in each of the 127 defense zones, close to 90 000, even if an important number of municipalities of Santiago de Cuba, Palma Soriano and Contramaestre are still missing, this last strongly affected by Melissa», said Danislay Hechavarría Duvalón, chief of the Housing of the Provincial Defense Council (CDP).
Little by little we get over the hit of Melissa
The severe damages done to the infrastructure in Santiago proves that this was the territory most affected by the hurricane. «Just to mention some examples, there were more than 22 000 total roof collapses and 66 139 partial roof collapses. Of them close to 5 000 of the total affected have already received resources. CDP decided that processing offices and points of delivery of materials remain open and functioning everyday. We have received more than 114 000 tiles -between zinc and cement with fiber- and 90 percent of them are destined to housing», explained Hechavarría Duvalón.
In December the process continues, including technical files and procedures so each affected is aware of what needs to be done at the commercial points of sale and at the Bank branches.
«Some materials are donated and its delivery is free of charge, others have to be paid either in cash, bank credits or bonuses -sometimes of up to 99 percent, even some people qualify for a mix of the three. In all cases the state covers 50 percent of the costs, she added.
Regarding subsidies, the administration council of each municipality has to respond within 24 hours after the request. Some pending from hurricane Sandy, about 6 000 were included with Melissa, with their priority they had explained to the Chief of the CDP in charge of Housing. In this case priorities define and organize attention paid, focusing on vulnerability, like for instance in the case of mothers with multiple children and workers. Commissions in charge of visits are made up of delegates by zone, social workers and housing technicians. «It is hard work that includes high sensitivity as well as a level of objectivity», explained Solans Munive Pozo, who received as part of her training as technician had 83 homes in her charge. «It is part of accompanying each person affected, even though many of us also suffered losses, housing or other losses», explained Anisleidis Ramos Hernández, who in the last few days checked damages in 55 housing units.
«Our visit is not only to evaluate the unit, but also the socio-economic situation of the family group, and from there proceed with the subsidy applications, financial support and delivery of basic items as required» explained Daisy María Salazar Álvarez, social worker. Alexis Pozo Castillo explained: «I went to the Processing Office and to my delegate and the answer I received was that I had to wait, and it took 15 days», Alexis is a resident of Ciudad Heroe, Altavista, where there were more than 67 000 housing units affected by the hurricane.
«The work at the points of sale has to be fast, but challenges with the electric Flow limit functioning for posting and payments, there is also a deficit of personnel reason why the effort made by those of us working in Commerce is extraordinary, this is a sector with low salaries and suffers strong exodus of workers», explained Adael Castillo Lima, administrating the shop selling building materials in El Dragón.
There is a lack of basic construction materials, like cement and steel, and within our territory there are a number of ways to deal with this. One example is the building of housing type iv in the mountain and urban areas, which includes adapting other buildings available, and also converting containers into housing units for 3 or 4 people that include two rooms, bathroom, kitchen and living, and are set in lots of 8 by 16 meters with possibilities of enlarging adapting to the needs of families.
According to Yamni Ferreiro Canet, chief of the Coordinating Office of the Construction Company Group here, «in the shops of Santiago de Cuba, Palma Soriano y Contramaestre the adaptation of containers is moving forward. It is an experience from other lands that we are applying to our country».
On top of this, the production of bricks, tubes and clay connectors was re-started «dry bricks, stone bricks, lime and other products in each of the nine municipalities In Mella, for instance, we have provided nine housing units to the families that would live in them», said Jesús Vera Shelton, director of the Empresa Provincial de Materiales de la Construcción (Building Materials Provincial Company).
The voice of those who were most affected
For Maricel Cabrales Toro –neighbor of Los Negros, Contramaestre–, the total collapse of her home was one of the most painful events in her life. She recognizes the help she received from the Processing Office but she found that some of the technicians in charge of certifying damages «seem a bit insensitive and do not know how to address you and explain what is relevant». During the visit to the debris left of her home, the technician informed me that because it was a total collapse and there were no available resources at this time for this type of situation they will not complete a report at this point.
Later when I visited the Office, they asked me to sign a document in which they agreed to classify the damage as «total collapse of the roof; as if figures in our file», Maricel complains, «but in truth it was a total collapse of our home, nothing remained only the floor».
In the same area, Belkis Cámbara Zayas, 68 years old, detailed a painful but hopeful situation: «The cyclone left me without a roof. It was very hard, one works so much to have a home and then in a minute this happens, to see my home like that, the television set ruined, the mattresses, the clothes. But I tell you something: help arrived fast, I felt not abandoned. I went to the point of sale of materials, and they treated me well, I completed all the paperwork and they gave me my tiles, hooks and screws. They even assigned a truck to bring it all here, to my door», explained the cheerful grandmother.
In Palma Soriano, Orestes Ávila Trimiño explained: «first I went to visit my delegate who told me clearly the procedures; then I went to our ZD local to be included in the list with others affected, they told me that we had to wait for the technician to complete a report, about a month after I had not being visited so I am worried because I lost everything after Sandy and I am still waiting for someone who helps me raise my home»
Translation by NSCUBA (Nova Scotia)
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