Hurricane Charley damage in Cuba wider than expected

From Rich Perelman at CigarCyclopedia:

Reports of damage in Havana and throughout western Cuba have been more severe than reported in the hours following the touchdown of Hurricane Charley over last weekend.

Official Cuban sources credit the storm with destroying 140 homes in the city of Havana and partially collapsing another 767. In the Havana province, another 989 homes collapsed and 10,020 were damaged. All together, Charley damaged 16,000 homes in Cuba.

Agence France Presse reported that the Pinar del Rio region, where much of Cuba’s cigar tobacco is grown, escaped direct contact with the storm. However, the area was disconnected from the national electrical system as 13 high-tension towers collapsed.

Happily, planting of cigar tobacco does not usually start until late in the year, in November or December, so the new crop was not damaged. However, there were no reports about damage to existing tobacco stored in curing barns. Not surprisingly, our inquiries to contacts on the island about damage have not been responded to as yet.

Extensive damage was reported in other agricultural sectors, including banana and sugarcane plantations and some vegetable production.