250 people rescued from flooded homes

RESCUERS in inflatable rafts and amphibious vehicles pulled nearly 250 people from flooded homes yesterday after huge waves churned by Hurricane Wilma flooded the capital’s coastal highway and adjacent neighbourhoods of old, crumbling buildings.

The ocean spread up to four blocks inland, flooding streets and buildings with water up to three feet deep.

Although the Malecon coastal highway and adjacent neighbourhoods often flood during storms, the extent of yesterday's inundation was highly unusual. The outer bands of Wilma also flooded evacuated communities along the island's south coast over the weekend after the hurricane devastated Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Flooding and high winds caused heavy damage to homes in the northern coastal community of Baracoa, east of Havana.

In the Port of Mariel east of Havana, people gathered outside homes to watch in awe as waves several yards high rolled in.

Part of a concrete seawall crumbled, but otherwise no major damage was evident.

"Last night was really tense, waiting for what might happen," said Joelsis Calderin, aged 30. "I've never seen waves like this. You have to respect the sea."

"Come on over," another Mariel resident, Sussel Acosta, joked to her neighbours. "Everyone's catching fish at my front door."

The government shut off electricity throughout the capital and across the island's west a standard safety precaution as high winds howled across the island. President Fidel Castro praised the island's efficiency in hurricane preparation, saying that, despite scarce resources, Cuba is internationally recognised as "a model country that protects the lives of its citizens."

Cuba prides itself on saving lives during hurricanes, and its civil defence plans have been held up by the United Nations as a model. Mandatory, widespread evacuations are common and face little resistance.