CaribWorldNews, MIAMI, FL, Tues. Sept. 9, 2008: Hundreds have died in Haiti and other Caribbean countries and tens of thousands of dollars of damages incurred by back to back hurricanes across some island nations, but neither U.S. Presidential hopeful has bothered to weigh in on the devastation.
A CWN check reveals that not a single press statement on the storms has been issued by either the Barack Obama or John McCain camps in the past week on the deadly storms that affected the Caribbean. This despite the fact that several Caribbean nationals are arduously working in both camps, especially on the Obama campaign.
Obama, however, on Labor Day, Sept. 1, had asked for those gathered at a Detroit annual Labor Day parade and rally to join him in a "moment of silent prayer" for those in the way of Hurricane Gustav. But apart from that one reference, there has been nothing lately, not even on Haiti, where hundreds have been killed by three back to back storms.
And also on Labor Day, the 2008 Republican National Convention launched the first day of its Hurricane Gustav Relief Effort to donate to charities identified by five Gulf Coast governors.
The silence on the Caribbean comes as hundreds await food in Gonaives, Haiti, and officials yesterday put the Haiti death toll from back to back storms at 660. Hannah and Hurricane Ike also blasted the Turks & Caicos Islands while Ike yesterday touched down in Cuba, causing severe `material losses,` according to the Granma.
Towns such as Guam and Second Front are flooded, the paper said while there were reports of hundreds of partial or totally collapsed houses and streets dotted by fallen trees and electricity poles.
Some 12 thousand evacuees remain in the town Santigao de Cuba even as rising rivers and streams in some areas prevented movement between.
Last night, a hurricane warning remained in effect for the Cuban provinces of Ciego De Avila, Sancti Spiritus, Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Matanzas, La Habana, .Ciudad De Habana, Pinar Del Rio and the Isle Of Youth.
The center of Hurricane Ike, now reduced to a category one storm, was located about 20 miles southeast of Playa Giron on the south coast of west-central Cuba and about 140 miles southeast of Havana at 11 p.m. last night.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for Little Cayman and Cayman Brac in the Cayman Islands while a tropical storm watch remained in effect for Grand Cayman.
Ike is expected to continue to produce rainfall accumulations of 6 to 12 inches over Cuba with isolated maximum amounts of up to 20 inches possible. The rains are likely to cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides over mountainous terrain. Rainfall accumulations of 3 to 6 inches are also possible over Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.
