(Havana) After a second night of almost total power outage, Cuba prepares Sunday for the imminent arrival of the hurricane Oscarwhich should affect the east of the island during the day.
Posted at 8:03 a.m.
Updated at 10:31 a.m.
Jordane BERTRAND
Agence France-Presse
Oscar crosses the Caribbean in a west-southwest direction at a speed of around 19 km/h, with winds reaching 130 km/h.
As of 8 a.m. ET, it was about 115 miles (185 km) from Guantanamo Bay, according to the latest report from the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).
PHOTO NORLYS PEREZ, REUTERS
For three months, Cubans have suffered from power cuts that have become more and more frequent, with a national energy deficit of 30%.
The hurricane warning remains in effect for the southeastern Bahamas and the northern coast of the Cuban provinces of Holguin and Guantanamo.
Oscar will hit Cuba in the midst of an energy crisis, the island having spent its second night without power due to a breakdown on Friday in the main thermoelectric power plant, which led to the complete shutdown of the network.
Authorities in the east of the island are “already working hard to protect the population and economic resources, given the imminent hurricane Oscar », assured President Miguel Díaz-Canel in a message published Saturday evening on X.
PHOTO NORLYS PEREZ, REUTERS
Street lights illuminate a Havana neighborhood as the Cuban government said Saturday it had made progress in gradually restoring electric service across the island.
In another message on X, the Cuban presidency reported the beginning of progress in restoring the electricity system.
The Cuban presidency states that “16% of consumers already have electricity and around 500 megawatts are being generated. The system will continue to increase its load in the coming hours.”
For comparison, the country had consumed 3,300 megawatts on Thursday, the day before the total electricity blackout linked to the shutdown of the island’s main thermal power plant, located in Matanzas (West).
“Too much stress”
On Thursday, the Cuban president announced that the island was in a situation of “energy emergency” faced with difficulties in purchasing the fuel necessary to power its power stations, due to the strengthening of the embargo that Washington imposes on the island since 1962.
By Saturday evening, most neighborhoods in Havana were in the dark, except for hotels and hospitals equipped with emergency generators and the few private homes that have this type of equipment.
“The situation is very difficult, but I try to stay calm, because there is already too much stress in this country,” said Yaima Valladares, a 28-year-old dancer.
PHOTO ADALBERTO ROQUE, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Cubans queue for bread during the second day of the national blackout in Havana, October 19, 2024.
Isabel Rodriguez, 72, like many of her compatriots, has difficulty sleeping, not being able to use fans when it was 27 degrees on Saturday evening, but with very high humidity, making it feel like 32 degrees.
“People are a little upset because the power has been out for a long time and God knows when it will be restored,” said Rafael Carrillo, a 41-year-old mechanic, who said he walked for almost five kilometers due to the lack of means of transportation. transportation.
“We spend four or five hours waiting for the guagua [bus] and when it passes, it is full and does not stop,” he said wearily.
“No more internet”
“Without electricity, it is almost impossible to study,” explains a young man of 18, on condition of anonymity. “My phone is out of battery, we no longer have internet, the connection has also disappeared and I can’t call my loved ones because there is no coverage on the landline at home. House “.
For three months, Cubans have suffered from power cuts that have become more and more frequent, with a national energy deficit of 30%. On Thursday, this deficit had reached 50%.
In recent weeks, in several provinces, outages have lasted more than twenty hours a day.
In Cuba, electricity is produced by eight dilapidated thermoelectric power plants, sometimes broken down or undergoing maintenance, as well as several floating power plants – which the government rents to Turkish companies – and generators.
PHOTO NORLYS PEREZ, ARCHIVES REUTERS
People walk on a street near a streetlight as the Cuban government said Saturday it has made progress in gradually restoring electric service on the island, in Havana, Cuba, October 19, 2024.
Most of this infrastructure requires fuel to operate.
Power outages were one of the triggers for the historic protests of July 11, 2021.
In September 2022, the island had already experienced a widespread outage after Hurricane Ian hit the west of the island. Completely restoring electricity took several days in the capital and several weeks across the island.
