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Tropical Storm Oscar made landfall in Cuba as a hurricane on Sunday evening, where residents were preparing for more chaos and misery as the country grapples with nearly nationwide power outages for a third day.
Oscar’s arrival adds to the pressure on a country already struggling with skyrocketing inflation and shortages of food, medicine, fuel and water after the collapse of Cuba’s largest power plant on Friday knocked out the entire national grid. Used to be.
The Cuban government said power would be restored to most of the country by Monday evening, with President Miguel Diaz-Canel warning that his government would not tolerate public disturbances during the outages.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said when Oscar made landfall in eastern Cuba at 5:50 p.m. local time (2150 GMT) on Sunday, it was a Category 1 hurricane before it weakened to a tropical storm.
As of 11:00 p.m. local time, the storm had maximum winds of 70 miles (110 kilometers) per hour and was expected to continue moving across eastern Cuba through Monday.
Waves as high as 13 feet (four metres) hit the beach at Baracoa. State television reported that roofs and walls of homes were damaged and power poles and trees were downed.
Energy and Mining Minister Vicente de la O Levy told reporters on Sunday that power would be restored to most Cubans by Monday night, adding that “the last customer could have service by Tuesday.”
The power grid failed in a chain reaction on Friday, causing the unexpected shutdown of the largest of the island’s eight dilapidated coal-fired power plants, according to Lazaro Guerra, head of power supply at the energy ministry.
National electric utility UNE said it managed to generate the minimum amount of electricity needed to restart power plants on Friday night, but by Saturday morning it was experiencing what official news outlet CubeDebate called “the power grid. A new, complete disconnection of.
Most of Havana’s neighborhoods remain dark, except for hotels and hospitals with emergency generators and a very few private homes with backup systems.
After three days without power, “My refrigerator is broken and I’m afraid everything will be ruined,” said worker Adismari Cuza, 56.
“Cubans are tired of a lot of things,” said Sergui Castillo, 68.
– ‘Energy Emergency’ –
The blackout followed weeks of power outages, which lasted up to 20 hours a day in some provinces.
Prime Minister Manuel Marrero declared an “energy emergency” on Thursday, suspending non-essential public services to prioritize power supplies to homes.
And on Sunday, President Diaz-Canel warned that the government would take “seriously” action against anyone attempting to “disturb public order” during the blackout.
The statement came after witnesses said that residents of several areas of Havana had taken to the streets on Sunday night to express their dissatisfaction.
“There are people in the street making noise with pots and pans and shouting ‘Let us get the power back,'” a resident of the Santo Suarez neighborhood told AFP.
Garbage barricades were also set up in the Centro neighborhood, AFP photographers observed.
– Leaving Cuba –
President Díaz-Canel blamed the situation on Cuba’s difficulties in obtaining fuel for its power plants, which he attributed to the tightening of the six-decade-long US trade embargo during Donald Trump’s presidency.
Cuba is suffering its worst economic crisis since the collapse of key ally the Soviet Union in the early 1990s – fueled by rising inflation and shortages of basic goods.
With no relief in sight, many Cubans have fled.
According to US officials, more than 700,000 people entered the United States between January 2022 and August 2024.
While officials primarily blame US sanctions, the island is also feeling the blow of the COVID-19 pandemic due to its vital tourism sector and economic mismanagement.
To strengthen its grid, Cuba has leased seven floating power plants from Turkish companies and added several small diesel-powered generators.
In July 2021, the blackout sparked unprecedented public anger.
Thousands of Cubans took to the streets chanting, “We are hungry” and “Freedom!” In a rare challenge to the government.
One person died and dozens were injured in the protests. According to Mexico-based human rights organization Justicia 11J, 600 people detained during the unrest remain in prison.
In 2022, due to nationwide blackouts caused by Hurricane Ian, the island also suffered daily, hours-long power outages for several months.
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