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Killer hurricane Ike blasts Bahamas, lashes Cuba

WILL WEISSERT

Associated Press

Latest comment posted at 2:36 AM EST 08/09/08

Deadly storm kills 48 in Haiti, raising country's death toll from storms to 306 in less than a month ...Read the full article

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  1. Canadian Woman from Canada writes: Why has there been so little (i.e. none) coverage of the effects of the Hurricanes on Cuba. There has been passing mention that it has been hit, but no news about damages, etc. One has to go to the British media to find out anything at all. Cuba is a friend of Canada & thousands of Canadians visit there each year. Is this a result of Harper's Americanization of Canadian media? I'mvery disappointed in the Canadian media for a number of reasons, and this just adds to my concerns. How about our Cuban friends, the people of Cuba who have welcomed us so warmly?
  2. Renny Paul from United States writes: Canadian Woman, you make an excellent point. My father was Cuban. As an American, I have always had to rely on foreign media to find out the effects of a storm on Cuba. I am very surprised that more news of the recent hurricanes and tropical storms effects on Cuba have not been more widely reported throughout your country since Cuba appears to be a favorite vacation destination.
  3. michael moore from toronto, Canada writes: As someone who used to work there, I can tell you that it happens all the time, but most of the time you don't notice that almost all our world news is filtered through the United States. It's not a big imperialist conspiracy or anything. Just that they are a much bigger news market than we are and we get our news second-hand from them. For instance, most Canadian Press world news is really Associated Press world news, slightly dressed up for Canadian readers. (You know, change 'honor' to 'honour', 'check' to 'cheque' and 'yards' to 'metres'.) Generally speaking, that works okay. AP has vastly more news-gathering resources than CP. But Cuba is one of the black holes. For years, AP got its Cuba news from the Cuban ex-pats in Miami and CP got its Cuba news from AP and Canadians got a steady diet anti-Castro propaganda. It's not as bad now, but neither is it very good. (Another factor is the p*nis envy that a lot of people in the Canadian news media have for the U.S. media: Whatever is important to them must be important to us.)
  4. Scenic Sask! from Canada writes: The news release from Cuba after Gustav said some roofs had been blown off but there were no reports of any deaths. Hard to believe after the death and destruction in Haiti.
  5. B Z from Toronto, Canada writes: Yes...getting more news out of Cuba would be nice.

    Cubans aren't idiots ... they move the whole population out the way when a hurricane makes a move on a certain section of their island...move east or west.

    Lets be honest...you can't compare Cuba with Haiti.

    The Cuban government is more stable and cares about their own as much as they can with the resources they have. The government in Haiti is on a thin wire of constant survival and couldn't care less for their own.
  6. Richard Roskell from Naramata, Canada writes: Not even half way through September and we're already down to the 'i's'? I deplore the trend of throwing away a tropical storm name on mere atmospheric depressions. It's getting so that every tropical breeze with aspirations gets tagged. Let's bring some sanity back into the storm naming conventions, to whit:

    1. Only storms of Category 4 and greater get proper names. The rest get diminutive nicknames, like Oogie and Stinky.

    2. Category 5 storms get an honorific added. "That's tropical storm MISTER Mike to you, buddy."

    3. Once-in-a-century hurricanes will be addressed as, "Your Highness."

    4. Expand the scale! "Category 5"? What's up with that? You can't instill the necessary dread in people with a number like 5. A "Category 13" on the other hand might do the trick.

    5. Using the letters down to 'Z' and then starting over again at 'A' is confusing. People forget if it's the start of hurricane season or the tail end using that convention. Better to use more descriptive terms for the last storms of the season. "Tropical Storm Last Gasp" lets you know that it will soon be time to take the plywood off your windows.

  7. Alistair McLaughlin from Canada writes: Canadian Woman, precisely how does Harper go about "Americanizing" the Canadian media? As for Cuba, there are plenty of Cuban defectors in Canada and the US who would love to know what is happening there. That was the case before Harper got in, and is the case now. The media ignores Cuba because of the restrictions placed on the media in operating there. They still throw "dissidents" in jail for reporting the wrong things about their little island worker-peasant paradise. And they only just allowed Cuban citizens access to the Internet last year. Such an environment doesn't lend itself to great media coverage.
  8. M G from Canada writes: "Forecast to affect the Florida Keys." I guess it doesn't matter that there will be a direct hit on Cuba, all along its length.
  9. M G from Canada writes: As suspected... Associated Press. I guess The Globe and Mail is now the Costco of Canadian news. As are most of the other news sources. I guess I'll have to stick to Google if I want anything without a capitalist, hegemonic, homogeneous, US-centric viewpoint devoid of any character.
  10. M G from Canada writes: Alistair McLaughlin: you raise some good points, but in this case, it is a disaster story. Surely, the anti-communist media still cares about the livelihood of the peasants you mention. They are about to be hit with 50 cm of rain and 215 km/h winds.
  11. Tristram Shandy from london ontario, Canada writes: I am glad to see others commenting on the lack of Cuban reports, I was beginning to think it was just me. This time the report clearly said Associated Press so I figured that was American and that explained it.

    I have been looking for other sources, if anyone locates some other links, could they please post them here?
  12. bob Saunders from Canada writes: Well as I post here from the city of Jarabacoa Dominican Republic where we've had lots of rain and thunderstorms I have been watching CNN Espanol and they have plenty of warning for Cuba and so does the national Hurricane center. The problem with getting news out of Cuba is: There are no Canadian Reporters and there are too many retrictions on the press in Cuba. I am afraid for my sister-in-laws family in Baracoa Cuba because they are in the path and live very close to the coast. If those of you think Harper has an ability to influence what the press posts do you think the G&M would be so rotten to him?
  13. Stephen Duke from Vancouver, Canada writes: Bob Saunders,

    Was there much damage done in the DR? Where there any ocean surge/flooding problems etc?

    Curious.
  14. M G from Canada writes: Stephen: Winds blow into hurricanes in a counter-clockwise direction. As such, the surge wouldn't be that bad on the north coast, which was the coast that was closest to the storm. They were also far enough away to avoid hurricane force winds from this monster. The same can be said of Haiti, but I fear for the Gonaives to north coast region, because the degradation of forests has left them with a land prone to severe flooding. Furthermore, it is an impoverished island with food crops already affected from recent flooding. It could be a humanitarian disaster. Cuba has the ability to very efficiently evacuate and inform people of hurricanes, but, in this case, we're dealing with a Category 4 storm that looks poised to run along its length. The results could be devastating.
  15. M G from Canada writes: The problems with storm surge in Cuba will be in advance of the storm, where north winds pile up the water along the shores to the northwest of the storm. Astronomical tides aren't that high at the moment, but this is a big storm.
  16. Michael Rudin from United States writes: Reporting bad news out of Cuba is a problem. Since the news is highly controlled and reporters are not free to report, the government, like most totalitarian governments sugar coats the news. Insread of all the anti US/Canadain retoric, write the Castro brothers to allow open reporting.
  17. J C from Canada writes:
    Its only Cuba. The AP has it right, who cares.

    Besides the Russians tried to put nuclear missiles in allied Cuba that was way too close to the USA border and almost caused ww3 - or did you forget this?

    Its not like the US would ever do crazy things like this ;)
  18. M G from Canada writes: Michael Rubin: Are you serious? The National Hurrican Centre knows Cuba is going to be hit. Any meteorologist with access to satellite imagery knows Cuba is going to be hit. They have tracked its potential progress right over the island. How on Earth do you think Castro had an impact on whether the Associated Press decided to mention that this storm is heading for Cuba? Besides, it's not bad news... yey. Typical American.
  19. kitty kumari from Canada writes:
    Canadian Woman from Canada writes:

    Why has there been so little (i.e. none) coverage of the effects of the Hurricanes on Cuba. One has to go to the British media to find out anything at all.

    I agree. G&M, you need to hire more journalists. Oh, and BTW, how come you guys didn't tell me that England is flooded????
  20. M G from Canada writes: Rudin, not Rubin; hurricane, not hurrican; yet, not yey... You made me so upset that I was writing like lightning... :)
  21. Canada First from Canada writes:

    Hi M G,
    Good points regarding storm surges. Don't forget though that in addition to the effect of tides and winds, is the effect of the low pressure, which causes the water to literally bulge upward; this effect occurs irrespective of winds and tides.
  22. M G from Canada writes: Yes, this is true, but the worst part will be in the eyewall in advance of the centre. On the backside, the effect of the pressure drop is reduced by the direction of wind flow. Sometimes shallow embayments actually empty due to this effect!
  23. No McCain from United States writes: Hi Bob I too have many friends in Baracoa and am anxious about them. You might try 1) Moa as Sherittisthere in a big way. otherwise try the military base at Guantanamo it is about 75 miles away.

    Indeed the US has shamlessly made Cuba a black hole and a political puppet,to blame Castro is absurd as it takes two to tango. Blame the exile community. these say it is for their families .... BUNK it is the hope that they get their property back as well....the hardliners with the deep pockects are to blame and no one else.
  24. Liberals don't know their butt from a hole in the ground, Canada writes: Top Stories by Section
    World: Hurricane Ike pounds Tina, heads for Jail, again
  25. M G from Canada writes: Funny thing... the article may turn out to be right. It looks to be turning northward a bit! The next advisory should have been out 8 minutes ago. We'll see what they say. Why are they late?
  26. Canada First from Canada writes:

    Hi again M G,
    Doesn't the next advisory come out at 5PM EDT? I thought they did their major updates and new forecasts (and discussions) at 800, 1100, 1400, 1700, etc....

    You're right, it's kicked north a bit, hasn't it? Good for Cuba, but potentially worse for Florida and, perhaps even the Gulf Coast...
  27. M G from Canada writes: Canada First: Yes, I committed a time zone error. I'm surprised they didn't move the track northward a bit, along the coastline?
  28. Canada First from Canada writes: M G, do you read the forecast discussions? They typically explain their predicted paths. In the 5PM discussion, they discuss a subtropical ridge north of the system that's keeping Ike from hanging a right (as Coriolis forces would otherwise have it do!). The system's supposed to weaken over the next couple of days though, which'll let it head northward a bit more.

    I'm glad they run rigourous forecast models of this stuff and don't count on us amateurs to predict paths based on eye-balling where it looks like it's heading!
  29. M G from Canada writes: Yes, they are great at this... though I actually am qualified... PhD in the field :)
  30. J M from Calgaristan, Canada writes: The National Hurricane Center like all American institutions has a big hate on for Cuba and always has. Yet again they constantly report trajectories that will miss Cuba when they know exactly that Cuba will be hard hit.
  31. Sam I. AM from St. Louis, MO, United States writes: "Canadian Woman from Canada writes: Why has there been so little (i.e. none) coverage of the effects of the Hurricanes on Cuba. There has been passing mention that it has been hit, but no news about damages, etc. One has to go to the British media to find out anything at all. Cuba is a friend of Canada & thousands of Canadians visit there each year"

    Boy, just wait until the Castro brothers kick the bucket, and we have regime change in Cuba...you'll find Canadians not so welcome...in fact, they'll be nursing a longstanding grudge, as they watched you lie on their beaches sipping Maitais, while their people suffered under Castro.
    I for one, will sit back and enjoy the show.
  32. Waye Mason from Halifax, Canada writes: Peter MacKay, Stephen Harper, you must announce that the Navy is going to Turks and Caicos, right away.
  33. brian silva from Canada writes: J M from Calgaristan, Canada writes: The National Hurricane Center like all American institutions has a big hate on for Cuba and always has. Yet again they constantly report trajectories that will miss Cuba when they know exactly that Cuba will be hard hit.

    ================================================

    i've lived in the caribbean for the past 7 years and have yet to see cuba being unexepectedly hit by a hurricane. if not in all cases, in most cases, the places to be affected were predicted accurately 24-48 hours prior. please leave your anti-US rhetoric and prejudices at home and stop misinforming the public.
  34. M G from Canada writes: Actually, the NHC are really good, and I am not aware of such bias in any form. In fact, they are warning right now of lifethreatening floods in Cuba. The criticism I had was with the Globe and the Associated Press.
  35. R M from Ottawa, Canada writes: Sam I Am: re your "grudge against Canadians" remark....

    You have a very distorted point of view. Most of the world outside the USA visits Cuba on vacation, not just Canadians. (and many US folks go there thru other countries, as well)....

    This has brought construction, service jobs, and income to Cuba. And many tourists bring goodies and staples with them to hand out to the workers in their hotels and resorts.

    There's some great golf on in your town today....why don't you kick back, relax (perhaps with some good rum?), and enjoy THAT show instead, eh?
  36. R M from Ottawa, Canada writes:
    JM from Calgaristan: that is such a "troll" remark.

    NY Times article from this hour, quoting the NHC on Cuba:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/us/08ike.html
  37. jim bob mahoney from Oberdhere, Canada writes: Ummm, not to degrade the amazing quality of GM reports, but 120km/h is barely a hurricane, let alone a cat 3.
  38. jack doober from brantford, Canada writes: JC you seem to forget that the US had missiles in Turkey at the time aimed at Russia..It is not well known that these were removed at the same time as missiles were removed from Cuba..

    The US is now trying the same thing in Poland..I hope we dont have to go through another Cuban crisis..
  39. joe garcia from Canada writes: Canadian Woman writes: "Why has there been so little (i.e. none) coverage of the effects of the Hurricanes on Cuba... Is this a result of Harper's Americanization of Canadian media?" This has everything to do with Raul Castro's Dictadorship - and absolutely nothing to do with Canada, nor with Canada's Press. Canada, unlike Communist Cuba enjoys FREEDOM of speach, and we have FREEDOM of Press - what do you mean by "Americanization of Canadian media?" I doubt that you could elaborate on this nonsence - I would also be interested if you could explain what Harper has to do with this? If a hurricane was to hit Myanmar, the rest of the world, including Canada, would be hard pressed to find any detailed information, and their Communist Junta would likely "assure" us that it's all under control and damage was minimal. Similarly, while there has been plenty of hurricanes in the Carribean this year causing the death of hundreds of people in Jamaica, USA, Haiti, Dominican Republic, etc. Raul Castro "assures" us that there has been NO deaths in Cuba, and the Cuban media's Official numbers confirm it. If you want to find out what is happening in Cuba, simply click onto their national newspaper at the following: http://granma.cu/ingles/index.html Granma is also available in Spanish of course but I include their English version for your convenience. Detailed news coverage related to Cuba is available at that site. and If you are not satisfied with the level of detailed information, such as hurricane damage, etc. than I sugest you bring it up with the Granma Press, or with Raul Castro - and leave Canada, our Prime Minister, and Globe and Mail out of it.
  40. M G from Canada writes: Jim Bob: The hurricane is a solid Category 3 storm. When you refer to 120, the units were in miles per hour, not kilometres. It is a strong storm and also a rather large one with a great capacity for flooding rainfall. Ike is still heading almost due west. To be honest, I'm surprised it hasn't curled northwestward yet in response to the regional flow. Sometimes larger storms have somewhat of a mind of their own, altering the flow on their own. The trajectory of this storm is not good. We will, unfortunately, be able to test the aforementioned conspiracy theories described above, because I'm afraid that there is very little change that a storm like this could go through any country without loss of life.
    Joe Garcia: Once again, the same, very odd argument is raised. The issue was that earlier today, the G&M was reporting that it might affect the Keys, with no mention of the fact that it was going to hit Cuba. There was no controlling of Associated Press by Castro. The storm hadn't hit yet, and American forecasters (and Cuban ones as well, judging by the evacuations they performed) knew the storm was going to hit Cuba. So, the issue was that they decided not to bother mentioning Cuba (as if Cubans were somehow lesser beings than Floridians). The issue was not the censorship of the media by the Castro brothers. They had nothing to censor yet! Perhaps, this will be an issue tomorrow? We'll see.
  41. M G from Canada writes: Joe Garcia: Thanks for the granma.cu link. The "Reflexiones de Fidel" were hilarious. What a bizarre "train of thought" brainstorm of randomly linked tidbits of anachronistic revolucionary propaganda. With precarious seguays, he manages to include Hiroshima, Afrikaan racists, and Dick Cheney's warmongering into his description of the devastation and subsequent relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Gustav. Great stuff! For a minute there, I thought I was reading The Spoof? I sense that either someone less charismatic than Fidel is writing this nonsense today, or that the poor old man has lost his faculties. Man, Cubans may manage to have a high literacy and/or life expectancy to poverty ratio, but they must get tired of this journalistic drivel.
  42. M G from Canada writes: Erratum... literacy rate to mean income ratio... must sleep... zzzzzz

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