Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma caused massive destruction in the Gulf of Mexico in 2005 but circum-Caribbean countries responded differently to the storms in terms of hurricane preparedness and disaster management. What accounts for these dissimilarities, and are the roles expected of governments and societies to mitigate loss of life and physical devastation different across political systems and countries? This article examines etiologies of hurricane destruction advanced by political rulers and public opinion leaders in Mexico and Cuba. Reports in the Spanish-language printed media provide evidence of the types of critiques made by Mexican and Cuban leaders of U.S. mismanagement of disaster response to hurricane Katrina. How they assessed their own country’s management of hurricane Wilma’s destruction is also analyzed.