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full screen Waves crash over the boardwalk in the Cuban capital of Havana in the wake of Hurricane Oscar. Photo: Ramon Espinosa/AP/TT
At least six people have died after Hurricane Oscar swept across parts of Cuba, according to the country’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel. The storm moved in over a country more or less paralyzed by a massive blackout lasting several days.
On Monday evening, local time, Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy stated that most of the capital Havana’s approximately two million inhabitants had received power again.
Cubans are not used to long power outages, but the current outage is the worst in a long time. It started on Thursday and grew to a total shutdown of the electricity grid for the country’s eleven million inhabitants on Friday. The reason was a chain reaction after the biggest power plant broke down in an already stressed situation.
On Sunday, the storm Oscar moved in over the easternmost, lower part of the island and made it difficult to restore the electricity grid.
Schools and business activities are planned to remain closed in Cuba until at least Wednesday, due to the power problems.