Cuba Plunges into Darkness as Hurricane Rafael Strikes

Cuba experienced a country-wide electricity outage on Wednesday when Hurricane Rafael brought gusts reaching up to 185km/h (115mph) to the Caribbean nation. The island’s national power utility reported that intense winds were responsible for the collapse of the electrical grid. A minimum of 70,000 residents were moved to safety from their residences before the category three storm made landfall on Wednesday evening, amid alerts for storm surges, flash flooding, and mudslides. This event occurred only a few weeks after millions were left without electricity for four days following a prior power failure stemming from problems within the nation’s aging power grid. This occurrence also coincided with Hurricane Oscar, which resulted in the deaths of at least six individuals. Rafael struck the western province of Artemisa, close to the capital Havana, at approximately 16:15 local time (21:15 GMT), according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC). A representative from the government-owned power utility, Unión Eléctrica, indicated that personnel would need to await the hurricane’s departure from the island before evaluating its effects on generating stations and the broader electrical network. By 22:00, Rafael had progressed into the Gulf of Mexico and diminished to a category two hurricane, with peak wind velocities of 169km/h. The NHC reported that the system was projected to continue delivering substantial rainfall across western Cuba until Thursday, and that coastal flooding could present a risk to human life. Significant precipitation is also anticipated in the Cayman Islands, while a tropical storm alert remains active for the Florida Keys. In the previous month, approximately 10 million individuals in Cuba experienced a power outage resulting from maintenance problems and insufficient fuel for operating power plants. This prior power disruption also occurred concurrently with Hurricane Oscar, a weaker category one hurricane that caused significant damage along the island’s north-eastern coast. The eastern province of Guantánamo bore the brunt of the impact, with over 1,000 residences sustaining damage from intense rainfall and high winds. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.