The Meteoro 2021 exercise, which will take place on May 22 and 23, will focus its efforts on specifying disaster risk reduction plans in response to the new conditions imposed since 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- For the second consecutive year, the new coronavirus prevents the traditional maneuver of the Cuban strategy against natural disasters from being carried out in its usual style, Lieutenant Colonel Elfio Martí Beatón, head of the Civil Defense organ in this province, said.
The persistence of the pandemic, he added, makes its first objective be “to increase actions to reduce vulnerabilities identified in communities, companies, and organizations with to reducing the transmission of COVID-19, efficiently and effectively complying with the protocols established for the response to the disease.”
He also explained the different command structures will specify "the assurance measures in situations of impact and affectation by extreme hydro-meteorological events, based on the possibility of the coincidence of evacuation centers that may be designated as isolation centers for suspects and COVID-19 contacts.”
In 2020, it was demonstrated how likely this scenario could be since tropical storms Isaías and Laura touched the soil of Las Tunas a few months after the first positive case of SARS-CoV-2 was detected here. Hence, Martí Beatón expressed, another of the intentions of Meteoro-2021 is, precisely, to “analyze the main experiences regarding the response to the pandemic, and include it in disaster risk reduction plans, considering its influence on compliance with actions in the face of other dangers.”
In this way, he anticipated, on Saturday, May 22, government and political authorities, as well as decision-makers in the economy and services, based on their respective contexts, will model "the variants for the evacuation of the population, taking into account that If a hydro-meteorological event occurs, it will be necessary to protect it in shelters, with due physical distancing.”
At the same time, he pointed out, general sanitation work will be carried out and, for the first time, it includes "carrying out work in the interest of the Food Program to guarantee supplies in disaster situations."
Sunday, May 23, will be dedicated to the training of the Management and Command bodies through the different preparation methods following the approved plans. There will take part, in a reduced composition, the municipal defense councils with their working groups and subgroups, the Defense zones, economic entities, mass, political and social organizations, and the Ministry of the Interior (MININT).
Actions related to Meteoro 2021 are preceded by others intended for disaster reduction like pruning or felling of trees, clearing ditches or channels; as well as securing roofs, and eliminating micro-dumps.
