Cuba
Cuba, located in the Caribbean Sea, is vulnerable to disasters like intense hurricanes, rains, flooding, earthquakes and tsunamis. When Hurricane Irma made landfall in September 2017, homes, water systems, and energy services in 90 percent of the country were impacted.
Building a stronger Cuban Red Cross
After Hurricane Irma, the Cuban Red Cross conducted a self-assessment in order to identify the priorities for how they could increase their capacity to better respond to disasters and emergencies in the future.
Based on this assessment, the Canadian Red Cross and Cuban Red Cross are working together to:
- Strengthen the skills used by staff and volunteers when they are leading an emergency response, preparing for future responses, and the mechanisms used for responses;
- Improve the equipment that is available to prepare for emergencies and respond to emergencies and disasters;
- Have more materials ready to go when responding to an emergency or preparing for future emergencies.