HURRICANES Charley, Ivan, Francis and Jeanne, which hit the Caribbean in August, September and October caused material damage in five countries to a value of $3.2 billion dollars, although figures from Haiti and the Cayman Islands have yet to be included.

It has been calculated that the total damage could amount to approximately five billion dollars. In Cuba alone, the first two hurricanes caused damage assessed at more than one billion dollars. Principally, the consequences of Charley, which affected Habana and City of Havana provinces, were seriously reflected in the interruption of electricity supplies in Pinar del Río, the westernmost province on the island.

However, only four lives were lost thanks to the measures adopted, which included the evacuation of two million people to safe places. In the analysis at the end of the cyclone season, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) reported that direct losses in the Bahamas, Grenada, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic are in excess of $2.2 billion. In the same way, the effects in neighboring regions, particularly the island of Cozumel in Mexico, have also been taken into account.

The effects of these meteorological phenomena on Florida and other U.S. states have not been included, although it has been estimated that losses exceed $30 billion dollars.

The most serious human and socioeconomic losses were concentrated in the smaller, less developed countries such as Haiti and Granada. The archipelago of the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands were also seriously affected by the double impact of more than two hurricanes.

According ECLAC, the effects of Hurricane Ivan on the island of Grenada – with a population of 100,000 inhabitants – will be felt on the economy for many years given that the disaster destroyed 89% of homes as well as damaging agricultural and other activities.

In Jamaica, Ivan caused approximately $575 million worth of damage, equivalent to 8% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the Dominican Republic, losses caused by the hurricanes reached $320 million, equivalent to 1.7% of the GDP.

According to ECLAC, evaluations of the damage caused in Haiti are still pending, although it is known that consequences for the north and northeast regions of the country were very serious, particularly in the city of Gonaives, the third largest in the country. In the Cayman Islands, the atmospheric phenomenon negatively affected the tourist industry and seriously damaged the social infrastructure of housing and communications.

The adoption of measures to avoid or weaken these natural disasters has not been successful; however, scientists are continuing with research as they have done for decades. The power of certain hurricanes is equivalent to a ten-megaton nuclear bomb being dropped every 20 minutes.

Winds and clouds of different temperatures moving at great speed converge to form cyclones and hurricanes, with almost constantly changing patterns, provoking gusts of wind and storms with a tremendous destructive capacity.

Anti-cyclone experiments include the use of a certain type of liquid to avoid the evaporation of sea water that feeds hurricanes, the release of millions of particles of soot, and the use of silver iodide injected from the sky, the only procedure to have been tested in a real situation, but without encouraging results.