Less than three weeks after , Cuba , lost all electric company for several days, Hurricane Rafael’s strong winds knocked out the government’s electric grid again Wednesday evening, leaving the island without support, the state power company said.
The state-owned , Electric Union , said that the powerful breezes” caused the separation of the National Electric System” at , 2: 48 p. m.  , and that emergency procedures were in position. In order to prevent failures, the company recently stated that it had planned to eventually disconnect some circuits in the storm-stricken areas.
Rafael quickly intensified to a big Category 3 storms in the evening and was already pounding southwestern , Cuba , and the Isle of Youth with continual gusts of 110 miles and even higher storms.
At , 5 pm, Rafael as located only 30 miles south-southwest of , Havana , and had made land on the southwestern coast of Artemisa state. The , National Hurricane Center , in , Miami , warned that Rafael may even provide lethal storm surges and flash flooding to the region.
Hurricane Rafael hits , Cuba , when the area is also grappling with the disaster left by Hurricane Oscar in the eastern state of Guantánamo, where eight persons died, two are also missing and 20, 000 homes were damaged.
Islandwide shutdown hits , Cuba , hrs after federal declares an’ energy emergency’
Not once has a hurricane caused the entire electronic system to decline. Hurricane Ian did the same in 2022, plunging , Cuba , into darkness for days, as it crossed the northern tip of the island on its way into the Gulf of , Mexico.
Wednesday’s full shutdown follows a similar show last month when the whole country lost power for many days, triggered by a failure at a big thermal plant on , Oct. 18 , that brought down the country’s dying electric infrastructure. Just a few hours prior, the government declared an energy crisis due to a breakdown in oil and generating capacity, which had prolonged power outages and crippled the market.
Hurricane Oscar makes landfall on eastern , Cuba , as island-wide shutdown continues
While the condition electric company later reconnected the network, and allied countries like as , Mexico , sent some oil to the island, the blackouts have continued for more than 10 hours everyday in some places.
According to experts, significant investment will be required to modernize the nation’s outdated power plants and infrastructure. The government, which has a high level of debt and operates a poorly run centrally planned economy, is bankrupt and lacks the funds to purchase oil on the global market.
‘ There was no one ‘: Cubans tell country’s leader government failed to help during hurricane
After the government faced widespread criticism for failing to evacuate residents in Guantánamo-arean areas and for a delayed response to send aid, Cuban state media made a point of showing that authorities were well prepared to protect the population and assist in the storm’s aftermath.
Photos of military vehicles, officers, and government officials were featured in state media. Authorities ordered the evacuation of 50, 000 people in , Havana, 13, 000 in , Villa Clara , province and 11, 000 in Sancti Spíritus, and people went mostly to the homes of friends and relatives.
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( c ) 2024 the Merced Sun-Star
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