Cuban-born forecaster leaves emotion outside work

Born in Cuba, always fascinated by tropical weather, Lixion Avila immigrated to the United States and rose through the ranks at the National Hurricane Center near Miami.

Now, as the senior forecaster there, he frequently consults with colleagues in Cuba and he has found himself drawing the lines that drive a Category 4 monster completely through his homeland--and directly at his aged mother in Havana.

"She's scared to death," Avila said Sunday. "But I told her to be calm, to stay in the house and to listen to what the local officials tell her to do. I tell her the same things I tell people right here in the United States."

Avila, 57, knows what's coming to Cuba, and so does his mother, Rosa, 85. They've both been through this before, but rarely with a storm as powerful and as seemingly focused on Cuba as Ike.

"They're looking at tremendous damage again," Avila said.

Avila arrived in the United States about 30 years ago. He was educated in Havana and at the University of Miami. He has worked at the hurricane center for 20 years.

Avila often serves as the center's primary coordinator with Cuba's forecasting headquarters in Havana and he is particularly close to Jose Rubiera, Cuba's chief forecaster.

"We share a tremendous amount of information," Avila said, "and we have access to all the (weather) radars in Cuba."

Political differences and diplomatic tensions are largely irrelevant in a situation like this, he and other U.S weather officials said.