Cubans struggling weeks after storms

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A month after two hurricanes inflicted the worst storm damage in Cuba's history, parts of the Caribbean island remain devastated.

One of the most badly affected communities was Los Palacios, in the western province of Pinar del Rio, which took direct hits from the hurricanes, Gustav and Ike.

The BBC's Michael Voss visited the battered town, which is only now beginning to recover.

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Heading out of Havana on the main road west to Pinar del Rio, at first there are few signs of hurricane damage.

Eighty per cent of homes in Los Palacios were damaged by the storms

Then the highway becomes flanked by uprooted trees. The final approach to Los Palacios is marked by fallen high tension electrical pylons.

One remains half-standing but is bent and twisted like a straw.

A month on and about 20% of the province remains without electricity.

At about five o'clock in the afternoon of 30 August, Hurricane Gustav came ashore at Los Palacios as a category four storm with sustained winds of 150mph (240km/h)

Then on 9 September, Hurricane Ike made landfall in exactly the same spot.

The winds were not quite as fierce but the torrential downpours were devastating.

Idalmys Batancourt, along with most of her neighbours, took refuge in a nearby brick church.

The revolution has always helped us in the past. I hope it continues and one day we will get a new house Idalmys Batancourt

She returned to find her wooden house all but flattened.

What was not blown down by Gustav was washed away in the floods from Ike.

"Everything was devastated, destroyed," Idalmys said, pointing to the bare foundations of what had been her living room and kitchen.

She now has a makeshift shelter built over a corner of her former home from salvaged pieces of wood and other materials.

She is hoping that the government will eventually help them with a new home.

"The revolution has always helped us in the past. I hope it continues and one day we will get a new house."

'Good planning'

But for a country already facing acute shortages of building material and heavy machinery, the task will not be easy.

About 80% of homes in Los Palacios were damaged, almost a quarter completely destroyed.

With most schools destroyed, residents hold classes in their homes

Yet no-one was killed and there were only a few minor injuries.

The municipal head of the Communist Party, Emilio Triana, put this down to "good planning, organisation and discipline".

Cuba prides itself on its well-rehearsed and organised evacuation plans.

On both occasions, half the population of 40,000 were moved to shelters.

The Cubans are also masters of rallying around in times of crisis and making do with what they have got.

Of the 45 schools in the Los Palacios, only four are functioning today.

Yet almost every child continues to get an education.

Mother-of-two Emilia Piloto is one of dozens of parents whose homes were relatively undamaged and who volunteered to open them up as temporary schools.

There are about 25 primary school children squeezed into a covered patio at the rear of her house.

Yellow sheets are strung up across one side to shade them from the sun or give protection from the rain.

"Right now the country needs it," Ms Piloto explained.

"We must all help each other. We must share what we have. Conditions are dreadful which is why we must keep our children studying, so they can have new opportunities in life."

Foreign aid

But when it comes to accepting aid and assistance from abroad politics starts to get in the way.

Cuba's close ally, Venezuela, has stepped in to help

There are teams of Venezuelan builders in Los Palacios, sent by Cuba's regional ally, President Hugo Chavez.

They are busy putting new roofs on damaged school buildings.

Russia and China have also stepped in with aid.

But the government here has turned down offers of help from most European Union countries as well as the United States.

Instead the authorities are insisting that the US suspend its trade embargo so that Cuba can buy building materials on credit.

This communist island's economy was already struggling before the hurricanes hit.

Now there are 200,000 people homeless, along with food shortages.

A third of all crops were destroyed and it is going to take six months to a year for the agriculture section to get back on its feet.

Rebuilding homes and infrastructure, especially with limited assistance from abroad, could take much, much longer.