Storm’s damages put focus on Cuba’s dire housing crisis

By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ
Associated Press

HAVANA (AP) — The first storm of the new hurricane season hit Cuba in mid-June and collapsed or damaged dozens of homes in the capital — tearing off pieces of roof, balconies and facades. That highlighted one of Cuba’s main social problems: a shortage of quality housing caused by decades of inadequate maintenance, a lack of new housing construction and impediments facing people trying to fix up homes themselves. An official review in 2021 found that at the end of 2020 the island had 3.9 million homes, almost 40% of which were only in fair to poor condition. There was a deficit of 862,000 housing units.