The image of the gabled roof of the emblematic La Caridad Theater ripped from its structure and hanging from the electrical cables illustrates the severe impact of Hurricane Ike in the city of Trinidad better than any damage inventory, said local resident Noemí Margariño, who thought the world was ending when she felt pieces of the theater crash against her house in the middle of the storm.

Known as the museum city and recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site, Trinidad was hit hard with close to 1,000 homes damaged, the La Vigia tower collapsed, and massive landslides and river flooding that cut off roads to and from the city.

Despite the eye of the hurricane passing just 30 km from the city and 11 km from tourist facilities on the Ancon peninsula, Trinidad managed to protect much of its colonial heritage and repair damage to its tourism infrastructure.

"If you had seen how this town was left after the hurricane, full of rubble and fallen trees everywhere... There were streets that were impassable," comments Manuel Iznaga, a Trinidad resident who has experienced several storms in the town.

"Foresight helped prevent greater losses —says local Civil Defense Council President Norberto Dorta—, here, we’ve never seen such prevention preparations. People either weighed down their roofs with heavy objects or took them down completely to preserve them."

Locals learned their lesson three years ago when Hurricane Dennis struck. The director of the city’s office of the curator, Norberto Carpio, recalled preparations undertook in 2005 and again in 2008 during the annual drill that takes place around the country each May to prepare for the hurricane season. Thanks to these activities, which include bracing fragile buildings and trimming trees, damage was minimized even with winds in excess of 100 km/h.

Two of the buildings that were reinforced at the beginning of the hurricane season were the Guachinango and Buena Vista houses, annually visited by thousands of tourists from Cuba and abroad.

The pergola in downtown Camilo Square that had been knocked down by Hurricane Dennis stayed standing this time, but was nevertheless turned into a jumble of iron pieces, which skilful hands are trying to put back into shape once again.

Ancon, a peninsula located between Casilda Bay and the open sea with roads, causeways, and hotels built in an attempt to conquer nature, was perhaps hardest hit by the hurricane. Several hotels were damaged including the Brisas Trinidad del Mar, Club Amigo Costasur and Ancon. However, thanks to the hard work of locals, the hotels are all back up and running normally, said Tourism Ministry representative Aleinor Zerquera.

As Hurricane Ike became a threat, hundreds of tourists were evacuated to safer hotels, and some even joined recovery tasks later on, like Marcel, a Canadian and repeat visitor to the Ancon Hotel. He can now tell the story of "the adventure" of experiencing a terrible storm in a city that has learned how to protect itself.

Taken from Granma Daily