Louis Michel, the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, has praised Cuba's response to Hurricane Paloma which struck the island as a category four storm at the weekend. There had been concern that this hurricane, at the very end of the hurricane season, would seriously damage recovery efforts following the devestating Hurricanes Gustav and Ike this summer. Cuban authorities evacuated more than one million people before Hurricane Paloma struck the island.

Commissioner Michel said: "The 2008 hurricane season is one of the worst Cuba has faced for many years. But