IN 1961, the need to develop strategies to protect the people and material resources given the increase in terrorist actions promoted by the United States government, led to the establishment of a defense system known as the Industrial Military Organization.

On July 31, 1962, in a meeting led by then Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces Raúl Castro Ruz, the recently developed institution was designated the Popular Defense.

Fourteen years later, the date would be recognized as the founding Cuba’s Civil Defense System (DC).

At the outset, the central task of the incipient organization was the protection of material resources of social and economic importance against attack. A turning point in its focus came with the devastation left by Hurricane Flora, October 4-8, 1963.

According to Professor Luis Enrique Ramos Guadalupe, an expert in Cuba’s meteorological history, this storm left 1,157 dead, destroyed 11,000 homes, killed 70% of the region’s livestock and severely damaged roads and bridges.

Given the number of lives lost, Flora is considered the second most damaging natural disaster in Cuba’s history – only exceeded by the November 9, 1932 hurricane which hit Santa Cruz del Sur. The bitter experience clearly indicated that the Popular Defense System must prepare the population to respond appropriately to hurricanes and other natural disasters.

In July of 1966, Law no.1194 was approved to officially constitute the Civil Defense System.

Over the 50 years of its existence, the DC has become a solid line of defense, drawing in all of society’s and the government’s forces, in an effort to safeguard people, property, infrastructure, the economy and natural resources in the event of a disaster, the consequences of global climate change or the threat of war.

The word ‘disaster’ is used to describe hurricanes, droughts, flooding and other forms of extreme weather, but also other phenomenon such as earthquakes, mudslides, forest fires, technological accidents, epidemics and outbreaks of plant or animal disease.

The expanding use of scientific and technological advances is critical to efforts to improve the work of the DC to reduce damage caused by disasters. The system’s focus on prevention and readiness is key.

Risk assessment and vulnerability studies undertaken, at the provincial and municipal level, by different entities within the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, in collaboration with other agencies, have provided important information needed to develop effective contingency plans.

Investigations have identified areas which could be flooded during periods of intense rainfall, as well as the likely limits of coastal flooding during hurricanes of different categories and the physical range of effects possible in the event of a chemical spill or accidental atmospheric release, to cite a few examples.

This information gives the Civil Defense System the tools it needs to respond in dangerous situations and prepare vulnerable areas in every urban and rural settlement in the country, identifying measures to implement at each stage, in an effort to reduce the damage caused by disasters.

Studies underway as part of the country’s Risks and Vulnerability Macroproject, to determine the likely situation in 2050 and 2100, have identified probable effects of rising sea levels on the Cuban archipelago. These findings have already been incorporated in Civil Defense plans.

Fifty years since its creation, the Cuban Civil Defense system enjoys considerable prestige internationally, in recognition of its effectiveness in reducing loss of life and the dangers inherent in disasters of all kinds.

Beyond the professionalism of its staff and its scientific contributions, the principal strength of the system lies in its political commitment and sure national leadership, and especially the cohesion and social organization of the people in the face of any contingency.