Hurricane Wilma, which delivered an indirect but devastating hit on Cuba last month, caused some 700 million dollars in damage across the island, officials here said Monday.
The government-run Granma newspaper reported that pre-storm preparations, recovery efforts, and losses in productivity, were included in the total cost of the storm.
Adding to the high pricetag was the cost of evacuating some 760,000 inhabitants of Cuba’s coastal and low-lying areas.
The hardest-hit sector was housing: Wilma damaged some 7,500 dwellings, of which 446 were completely totaled, Granma reported.
The storm took the title of strongest on record in the Atlantic basin this year, packing winds of up to 195 kilometers (120 miles) per hour.
It battered Mexico’s Caribbean coast before blowing by Cuba, and later slammed into Florida’s east coast, causing billions of dollars in damage.
