The operator of the Cuban electrical grid reported on Monday that it had restored electricity supply in some areas of Havana, even as Tropical Storm Óscar hit the eastern end of the island, leaving in its wake fallen trees, some collapsed homes and cables. damaged electrical.
Strong winds and torrential rains tore off trees and roofs from houses, according to images on state television.
The rains caused landslides and flooding in some parts of the country. Most of the eastern end of the island remained without electricity or communications.
The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, said that technicians were working carefully to avoid another electrical collapse given the “complex” circumstances. “The least we want is for the system to crash due to a breakdown in one line,” he stressed.
Cuban energy authorities said earlier that they had restored 89% of power to Havana and some nearby provinces as the island’s largest power plant came online.
The Government of Cuba announced the closure of schools and non-essential industries until Wednesday, while work continued.
Top electricity official Lázaro Guerra said Monday that workers were making important progress, but warned against excess optimism.
“We should not expect that when the system comes back online, the blackouts will end,” he said, noting that the system would still generate significantly less than the country’s total demand.
Cuba’s national electrical grid collapsed for the first time on Friday, before Oscar’s arrival, following the closure of the island’s largest power plant, which left 10 million people without power.
Since then, the network has completely or partially failed three times, underscoring the precarious state of the country’s infrastructure and putting many Cubans in suspense, who are already suffering from serious shortages of food, fuel and medicine.
Havana remained calm during Sunday night, with the entire city shut down. But a witness of Reuters saw several protests scattered in outlying neighborhoods, as well as residents banging pots and pans in frustration over blackouts and food and water shortages.
For months, Cubans have endured prolonged blackouts of between 10 and 20 hours a day in much of the country, which spoil valuable food reserves and complicate access to fuel and water.
The government and independent experts say the power grid, long on the brink of collapse, has reached a critical point as aging infrastructure deteriorates and fuel becomes scarce.
Cuba blames the U.S. trade embargo, as well as sanctions instituted by former President Donald Trump, for difficulties in acquiring fuel and spare parts to operate and maintain its oil-fired plants.
The United States has denied any role in the network failures. Russia, Mexico and Venezuela, allies of Cuba, have cut exports to the island in recent months.
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