Ike Destroys Thousands
Of Tons Of Food, Citric
Fruit In Cuba
HAVANA - Hurricane Ike
destroyed more than
4,000 tons of stored
food and 135,000 tons of
citric fruit when it hit
Cuba, the local press
reported on Monday.
Cuban Interior Minister
Marino Murillo told the
local press that the
losses were caused when
the roofs of many
storage houses were
battered by the
hurricane.
Hurricane Ike also
ruined about 135,000
tons of citric fruit,
Cuban Agriculture
Minister Maria del
Carmen Perez said on
Monday.
Perez said the crop of
citric fruit was the
hardest hit by the
hurricane, suffering
more losses than the
crops of bananas and
tobacco.
Earlier, Hurricane
Gustav ruined the
harvest of citric fruit
on Juventud island, one
of Cuba's main
plantation areas.
The harvest of citric
fruit in the Caribbean's
largest island has
already dropped 50
percent in the past
decade.
Hurricanes Gustav and
Ike together have caused
about 5 billion U.S.
dollars in damage, the
government said Monday
night.
|
