Cuba is now also being hit by a hurricane – Cuba”>Hurricane Oscar Hits Cuba: A Perfect Storm of Blackouts
The winds are howling, the rains are pouring, and the lights are… well, they’re absolutely nowhere to be seen! Just your average Sunday in eastern Cuba. Hurricane Oscar sashayed onto the Cuban shores with its 130 km/h winds, like a party crasher showing up uninvited. Except in this case, the only thing that was going to get blown away was the electrical grid!
Cuba, where just when you think a blackout couldn’t get any worse, nature decides to throw a hurricane into the mix. Talk about kicking someone when they’re down. The island is currently enjoying what the locals might refer to as an “extended candlelit dinner” — with 10 million people metaphorically (and literally) left in the dark.
Reports from the US National Hurricane Center indicate Oscar made landfall in Guantanamo, near Baracoa, like a kid bursting through the door after school, and not in a good way. At 5:50 PM local time, it declared, “Surprise! Hope you like wet and windy!”
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Meanwhile, President Miguel Díaz-Canel took to his social media platform — not the right time for some sunbathing, might I add — to reassure the nation that efforts were in full swing to address both the hurricane and the shockingly persistent electrical issues. I mean, let’s face it, “the energy situation” sounds much less fun than “let’s ride this storm out with a good old-fashioned battery-operated disco!”
The Cubans woke up to the news of a massive blackout on Saturday, a post-party hangover of sorts after a breakdown of the main thermoelectric plant. Can you imagine the chaos? One minute you’re sipping your morning coffee, and the next, it’s “Hello, darkness my old friend.” Rumor has it the Antonio Guiteras plant decided it couldn’t handle the pressure and just checked out on Friday morning.
Even Havana, a city of two million, was plunged into darkness — all the while hotels and hospitals tried their best to keep the lights on. It’s like the world’s worst magic show: “Now you see it, now you don’t!”
But fear not, as hope flickers — quite literally. According to the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, the electrical services might be back by Monday night! That’s right; by Monday evening, the majority of Cubans could potentially experience electricity again, which comes with an added bonus of no longer stubbing your toe on the furniture in the dark!
“We could be talking about tomorrow or the day after,” said de la O Levy, clearly a fan of suspense. Why not keep everyone on their toes? After all, nothing breeds excitement like playing the waiting game while a hurricane kicks your front door in!
In the meantime, perhaps Cuba will set records for the best and longest blackout party anyone has ever seen. Just don’t forget the candles, folks! And let’s hope Oscar skedaddles on out of there without extending his stay.
The hurricane made landfall this Sunday in eastern Cuba with maximum sustained winds close to 130 kilometers per hour, reported the US National Hurricane Center.
Cuba received the imminence of Hurricane Oscar this Sunday, hitting the island in the midst of an almost total blackout suffered by its 10 million inhabitants. The hurricane hit eastern Cuba with maximum sustained winds close to 130 kilometers per hour, reported the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC).
“Satellite images and radar data indicate that Oscar has made landfall in the Cuban province of Guantanamo, near the city of Baracoa.“at 5:50 p.m. local time (9:50 p.m. GMT), the NHC said in a statement.
“Y“We are working hard to protect the people and economic resources, in the face of the imminence of Hurricane Oscar,” said President Miguel Díaz-Canel on his X account, and noted that“The energy situation” of the island is also being addressed, as it spends its second night in the dark.
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Blackout in the middle of the Hurricane
The presidency of Cuba said in X that progress is being made in the recovery of the electrical service and that “16% of consumers already have electricity, and nearly 500 megawatts are generated“.
On Saturday the country woke up without electricity, a day after a breakdown in the island’s main thermoelectric plant caused the network to go down due to a newto “total disconnection of the national electrical energy system,” noted the Cubadebate news portal, without specifying details.
The country was left without electricity starting at 11:00 a.m. local time (3:00 p.m. GMT) on Fridayafter the unexpected output of the Antonio Guiteras thermal power plant, the main one on the island and located in Matanzas (west).
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On Saturday night, most of Havana’s neighborhoods, with two million inhabitants, were still in darkness.. Only hotels, hospitals and some private homes that have their own small generation plants had electricity.
The Cuban government estimates that electrical service will be restored in the country on Monday night for the vast majority of the population.indicated this Sunday the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy.
“We can be talking about tomorrow, Monday morning, in the afternoon, at night.“The service would be restored for the majority of Cubans, De la O Levy said in a press conference, specifying that “the last customer may perhaps be receiving (the service) next Tuesday.”
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In collaboration with AFP
