HAVANA, Cuba — After the devastating impact of Hurricane Rafael, Cuban officials announced Friday that power has been restored to most of the country. The Category 3 storm tore through the island two days earlier, leaving Cuba’s 10 million residents without electricity—the second national blackout in just a month.
By Friday, 13 of the country’s 15 provinces were reconnected to the national power grid, while efforts continued to restore power to the remaining two western provinces. However, Havana, home to over two million people, was still largely without power, with only 17 percent of residents seeing their lights flicker back on.
Hurricane Rafael, one of the strongest storms to hit Cuba in recent years, ripped apart roofs, uprooted trees, and tore down power lines, including causing significant damage to a baseball stadium in its path. Nearly 250,000 people were preemptively evacuated from their homes, though fortunately, no fatalities were reported.
This storm arrives as Cuba continues to experience lengthy power cuts, a crisis emblematic of the country’s most severe economic struggles since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The island’s energy infrastructure has faced repeated strain, recently compounded by a separate power plant failure that led to a multi-day blackout.
Amid the hurricane recovery efforts, the United Nations General Assembly has once again called for the United States to end its six-decade trade embargo against Cuba, with advocates highlighting the impact of these restrictions on Cuba’s economy and recovery capabilities.
