Hurricane Oscar makes landfall in Cuba as the nation struggles with power outages. Here’s what we know

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Hurricane Oscar makes landfall in Cuba as the nation struggles with power outages. Here’s what we know

 

Hurricane Oscar lacks the environmental power of Milton and Helene — but the Atlantic region’s 10th cyclone of this season has plunged an entire nation into darkness.

The storm made landfall in Cuba as a category one on the weekend, further burdening a nation already struggling to keep the lights on.

Here’s what we know.

What happened?

About half of Cuba was plunged into darkness on Thursday evening, followed by the entire island on Friday morning after the failure of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant in Matanzas Province east of Havana.

Cuba earlier on Sunday had said it was making headway restoring service after multiple false starts, though millions of people remained without electricity more than two days after the grid’s initial collapse.

Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy told reporters earlier on Sunday he expected the grid to be fully functional by Monday or Tuesday but warned residents not to expect dramatic improvements.

The government implemented emergency measures to slash demand, suspended classes, and shut down some state-owned workplaces and cancelled non-essential services.

What was the cause?

The Cuban government has blamed weeks of worsening blackouts on deteriorating infrastructure, fuel shortages and rising demand.

Cuba also blames the US trade embargo, as well as sanctions instituted by then-president Donald Trump, for ongoing difficulties in acquiring fuel and spare parts to operate and maintain its oil-fired plants.

The US has denied any role in the grid failures.

Cuba depends on imports to feed its largely obsolete, oil-fired power plants. Fuel deliveries to the island have dropped significantly this year as Venezuela, Russia and Mexico, once important suppliers, have slashed their exports to Cuba.

Venezuela, which is struggling to supply its own market, cut half its deliveries of subsidised fuel to Cuba this year, forcing the island to search for more costly oil on the spot market.

Mexico, another frequent supplier, appeared also to have cut fuel flows to Cuba.

Authorities have been working since last year on a project to upgrade the island’s electrical grid through the use of alternative power sources. A project to build 31 centres generating solar energy is under way and projected to be completed next year.

Has this happened before?

While some homes have spent up to eight hours a day this year without electricity as the grid has grown more unstable, the current power failure is considered Cuba’s worst in years.

Reuters reporters witnessed two small protests overnight after a grid failure left Havana in the dark late Saturday, one on the outskirts of the capital in Marianao and the other in the more central Cuatro Caminos.

Mr O Levy said the blackouts were bothersome to residents, but he said most Cubans understood and supported government efforts to restore power.

“Those isolated and minimal incidents that do exist, we catalogue them as incorrect, as indecent.”

Another major collapse occurred two years ago after Hurricane Ian, an intense category three storm, damaged power installations and the government took days to fix them.

ABC/Wires