Hurricane Paloma ripped through central Cuba on Sunday, November 9, 2008 and is the 5th hurricane to hit the island this season. It also goes on record as the 2nd most deadly storm in the month of November, according to Stormwire, an international group that monitors storms worldwide.

Hurricanes can form as early as May, and go all the way into December, but the most powerful storms are brewed from mid-August to mid-October. Hurricanes have formed in five consecutive months–from July through November, and scientists report that the energy carried by this year’s storms outstrips 2007 storm by more than double. This year’s hurricanes include Hurricane Bertha in July, Hurricane Gustav in August, Hurricane Ike in September, Hurricane Omar in October and Hurricane Paloma in November.

Paloma was a tropical depression off the coast of Nicaragua on Wednesday, and by Saturday. the storm had developed into a Category 4 hurricane. Early reports of damage are limited, but a half million people were evacuated as sea surges topped 700 meters along the coast.

Paloma made landfall near Santa Cruz del Sur late Saturday as a Category 4 storm on Saturday evening, and left the island as a Category 3 with winds of 115 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The 2008 hurricane season has ravaged Cuba and already racked up 9.4 billion in damage and destroying close to a third of the island’s crops–and this was before Hurricane Paloma hit.

Cuba is famiiar with hurricanes, and its residents know to head to higher ground when an impending storm is about to hit. They’ve learned how to handle the floods and debris that follows. They’ve learned the hard way–Hurricane Paloma hit just a few hours before the anniversary of another hurricane that wreaked havoc on Santa Cruz del Sur in 1932 and took 3,000 lives.

Hurricane Palmoa did not claimed any victims, (to date) but has destroyed 400 houses. The Red Cross has responded with aid. Cuba’s first Vice-president Jose Ramon Machado Ventura surveyed the area and spoke to the disaster victims about the devastating hurricanes that have hit the island this year. He said that there would be an analysis of the area as to whether the neighborhoods and towns should be relocated due to climate change and the possibility of future storms.

Helpful Sites:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/weather/article5126597.ece