Hurricane Isaac highlights vulnerabilities in the Caribbean

Hurricane Isaac, which reached the Caribbean on the seventh anniversary of the Katrina, tested the levees of New Orleans, which were rebuilt stronger after the devastation caused by Katrina, reports IPS. New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said 'the city's flood defences, a system of walls, floodgates, levees and pumps upgraded since 2005 at a cost of 14.5 billion dollars, had withstood the onslaught.'

However, Haiti, where 400,000 people still live in tent cities following the 2010 earthquake, 19 people died during the storms, and six are still missing. In the Dominican Republic fatalities were due to the heavy flooding of slums along the riverbank.

But Cuba proved to be 'the safest country in the region during hurricanes', said José Rubiera, head of the Meteorology Institute’s Forecast Centre. He added that "that is the result of years of work focused on adapting disaster prevention, preparedness and response to the new conditions emerging as a result of the increase in hurricane activity in this area, which could be a forerunner of what could happen as a result of climate change, which to a certain extent is already being felt.”