The hurricane made landfall in Guantánamo province with “sustained winds of 80 km/h and a gust of 116 km/h”according to the Cuban Meteorological Institute.
As local authorities announced, Hurricane Oscar made landfall on Sunday evening in eastern Cuba, while the island has been facing a giant power outage for three days. Oscar is believed to have fallen on the Cuban coast in Guantánamo province, near the town of Baracoa, on the far eastern tip of the island, at 9:50 p.m. GMT.
«Hurricane Oscar made landfall near Baracao», confirmed the Cuban Meteorological Institute (Insmet) on its Facebook page. “The Point Maisi weather station reports sustained winds of 80 km/h and a gust of 116 km/h at 5:25 p.m. local time (9:25 p.m. GMT)».
The power outage hitting the island is the result of a breakdown that occurred on Friday in the main thermoelectric power plant located in the west of the country, which led to the complete shutdown of the network. The authorities in the east of the islandare already working hard to protect the population and economic resources, given the imminence of Hurricane Oscar», assured President Miguel Diaz-Canel in a message published Saturday evening on X.
A few hours of power
The government hopes to restore electricity Monday evening. “We can talk about the fact that between tomorrow Monday morning, afternoon, or evening“, service will be restored for the majority of Cubans, indicated the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy.
A few hundred thousand Cubans were able to benefit from a few hours of electricity on Sunday, before the entire electrical system was paralyzed again, according to the national electricity company (UNE). “A new disconnection from the national electricity system (SEN) has occurred. Recovery work resumes immediately», indicated on X the Ministry of Energy and Mines late Sunday afternoon.
In an “energy emergency” situation
Thursday, on the eve of the general blackout, 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 has imposed on the island since 1962.
«It’s really serious, there is no life here, this country can’t take it anymore”, laments Serguei Castillo, a 68-year-old bricklayer. “For two days, I have only been eating kibble, pizza and other junk.», he tells AFP, angry.
«If your electricity is out for four or five hours, it’s still okay, but this… it’s a lack of respect for the people. I have no other way to describe what is happening to us,” says Isabel, 51, who refuses to reveal her last name. “The country paralyzed for three days is too much!».
More and more frequent power outages
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 under maintenance, as well as several floating power plants leased to Turkish companies, and generators. Power outages were one of the triggers for the historic protests of July 11, 2021.
Also read
Cuba: “never before seen” level of electricity shortages in 2022
In September 2022, the island had already experienced a widespread “blackout” after the passage of Hurricane Ian which hit the west of the island. Completely restoring electricity took several days in the capital and several weeks across the island.
