Franca Visser (38) from Volendam and her 2-year-old toddler had to watch helplessly as Hurricane Ian raged over their house in Cuba the day before yesterday, destroying everything in its path. In the coming time she will have no power and she has to say herself ‘back to basics’. Fortunately, she is one of the few in her area still has a roof over her head. Her child also seems to have little trouble with the devastation: “She slept through everything.”
Franca grew up in Wervershoof, but moved to Volendam at a young age and was active in the local catering industry for years. A few years ago she moved to Cuba where she has built a life.
She lives in Vinales. The city has been badly hit by the hurricane. “The part where we live has been hit very hard. We are currently without power, and there is also nothing left of the infrastructure. All that natural disaster was very frightening,” she says. NH Radio.
“We take in people who no longer have a roof. That’s how it goes in Cuba”
She suspects it will take weeks to months before she has power again: “There is still a tree on my house. I have to wait for someone to take it away, but I am already happy that I still have a roof over my head. We are now taking people in the house who no longer have that, that’s how it goes in Cuba, but first look for dry clothes.”
The fact that her house is one of the few in the area that still has a roof is probably because her house was not well insulated: “This caused the wind to blow through.”
Cheerful and happy
Her 2-year-old daughter seems to have noticed little of the natural disaster and the destruction: “She is always cheerful and happy. I do have difficult moments myself. The next few weeks are going to be weird,” she says emotionally.
The tree on Franca’s home. Text continues after the photo
According to the Noord-Hollandse, the coming period will be dominated by reconstruction. “It’s a communist country so the state takes good care of you. They give everyone a roof over their head and they repair the houses.”
Franca does not think about going back to the Netherlands with her child: “I have my house and my friends here. My life is here”, she concludes.
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