Hurricane Oscar Makes Landfall in Cuba, Adding to Power Outage Woes
As Cuba grapples with a power outage, Hurricane Oscar has made landfall in the country, further complicating the situation.
Key Details About the Hurricane
- Forecasters predict five to 10 inches (13-25 cm) of rain in eastern Cuba through Tuesday, with some areas receiving up to 15 inches.
- Hurricane Oscar first hit Great Inagua island in the southeastern Bahamas before moving on to Cuba.
- The storm’s center arrived in the Cuban province of Guantanamo near the city of Baracoa, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph).
- Landfall in Cuba occurred at 18:10 pm local time (2210 UTC).
Continued Challenges with Blackouts in Cuba
Cuban Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy expressed hope that the electricity grid would be restored by Monday or Tuesday morning. However, the arrival of Hurricane Oscar poses an additional challenge to repair efforts, as it is expected to impact a region with strong electricity generation.
The power outages in Cuba began on Thursday, leading to the suspension of non-vital services. A total grid failure on Friday left around 10 million people without power, with another outage reported on Saturday morning.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel attributed the difficulties in restoring power to the impact of the US trade embargo, which has hindered the acquisition of fuel for power stations.
Stay tuned for further updates on this developing news story.
Source: AFP, AP