Fatshimetrie: Images of the aftermath of Hurricane Oscar in Cuba
Hurricane Oscar, which hit eastern Cuba last Sunday, has left millions of residents in the dark, facing days without electricity, despite repeated attempts to restore much of the national power grid.
In Havana, the Cuban capital, early Monday morning, people were seen outside in dim light, some playing dominoes to pass the time. Children prefer to sleep outside to cool off from the stifling heat indoors, while schools remain closed until Thursday.
Hurricane Oscar made landfall near Baracoa, along Cuba’s eastern coast, on Sunday afternoon as a Category 1 storm with winds of 80 km/h. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said late Sunday that Oscar had weakened to a tropical storm and was moving toward the west-southwest of the country at 4 mph (6 kph).
According to the NHC, rainfall amounts of 6 to 12 inches, with isolated amounts of up to 18 inches, are expected over eastern Cuba through Wednesday morning. Up to 8 inches of rain could also fall in isolated amounts in the southeastern Bahamas.
Earlier, Hurricane Oscar made landfall on the island of Inagua in the Bahamas with estimated sustained winds of 50 mph (80 kph), the NHC said.
By Sunday afternoon, the Cuban Electric Union reported that more than 216,000 people in Havana, a city of 2 million, had their power restored. However, the power grid went out again later in the day, for the fourth time since Friday.
Some Cubans took to the streets to protest the three-day power outage, many banging pots and pans to disrupt traffic.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel criticized the protesters for causing public disorder, saying in a video posted on X that “we will not allow acts of vandalism and much less a disturbance of the tranquility of our people.”
Cuba plunged into darkness on Friday when one of the country’s main power plants failed, according to the Energy Ministry. Since then, most people in the country of 10 million have had their access to electricity cut off, while struggling to keep food fresh and a steady supply of water.
In Havana, residents waited for hours to buy a few loaves of bread at the few places selling bread in the capital. When the bread supply ran out, several people argued angrily, saying they had been cut off in line.
Many people wondered where Cuba’s traditional allies, such as Venezuela, Russia and Mexico, were.. Until now, they had supplied the island with much-needed barrels of oil to keep the lights on.
Meanwhile, tourists were still seen cruising Havana’s main avenues in classic 1950s cars, though many hotel generators have now run out of fuel.
A foreign visitor told CNN that Havana’s José Martí International Airport was operating in the dark, running only on emergency power, adding that printers were not working to issue tickets and there was no air conditioning in the terminal.
Reuters reporters witnessed two small protests on Sunday night, while videos of demonstrations elsewhere in the capital also surfaced.
The Cuban government is canceling classes for students from Monday to Wednesday, after canceling them on Friday. It has also ordered non-essential workers to stay home. The U.S. Embassy in Havana will be open only for emergency services on Monday.
Cuban officials have blamed the energy crisis on a series of events, from increased U.S. economic sanctions to disruptions caused by recent hurricanes and the island’s poor infrastructure.
In a televised address Thursday that was delayed by technical problems, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz said much of the country’s limited production had been shut down to avoid leaving people without power altogether.
“We have been forced to paralyze economic activity to generate (electricity) for the population,” he said.
Cuban Health Minister José Angel Portal Miranda said on X on Friday that the country’s health facilities were running on generators and that health workers were continuing to provide essential services.
CNN reporters Mia Alberti, Gene Norman, Rob Shackelford and CNN en Español reporters Verónica Calderón and Gerardo Lemos contributed to this report.
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This report provides an in-depth look at the aftermath of Hurricane Oscar in Cuba, highlighting the challenges faced by the Cuban population in the face of prolonged power outages and supply disruptions. The reactions of residents and the government to the crisis shed light on current social and political issues in the country.