The Entire Island Of Cuba Has Been Left Without Power After A Powerful Hurricane Struck The Country
A powerful hurricane struck Cuba and wiping out the power grid of the entire island, leaving 11.3 million people without power on Tuesday Sep. 28.
A powerful hurricane struck Cuba and wiping out the power grid of the entire island, leaving 11.3 million people without power on Tuesday Sep. 28.
Hurricane Ian, which hit Cuba as a category 3 storm, was heading towards Florida with a wind speed of about 195 kilometers per hour, with the National Hurricane Center predicting some areas of Cuba would see up to 30 centimeters of rain.
An early warning system prompted officials from the western province of Pinar de Rio to cut the power off to prevent electrocutions and fires.
However, the hurricane still manage to cause damage to the power grid, destroying tobacco plantations in the province and left at least two dead.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy announced that the main power grid had completely failed due to the weather on Tuesday evening.
“The system was already operating under complex conditions with the passage of Hurricane Ian. There is no electricity service in any part of the country right now,” the director of the Ministry of Mines and Energy said, according to Reuters.
Several residents lost almost everything as powerful winds destroyed their houses.
“Sometimes hurricanes pass through here, but not of this magnitude,” a tobacco farmer told Reuters. “It destroyed our houses, our drying huts, our farms, the fruit trees, everything.”
Local news Telepinar tweeted images of hospitals in Pinar del Rio suffering from infrastructural damage.
Efforts to restore the power continued on Wednesday, with some parts of the capital city Havana obtaining electricity.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy restored power to three regions, but most of the heavily affected west still remained without power, according to the Associated Press.
Cuba has frequently experienced power outages, but a total blackout throughout the island was likely never heard of.
On Wednesday afternoon, Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm prompting authorities to set evacuation centers and declaring a state of emergency in the state.
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