HAVANA, OCT 22 – Typhoon Oscar left six people dead after it hit Cuba last weekend as the country suffered a power outage, authorities said yesterday, as power was restored in most areas of the capital.
Power was cut for the Communist-ruled country’s 10 million people on Friday after a breakdown at the country’s largest power plant knocked out the entire power supply.
By Monday evening, nearly 90 percent of customers in Havana – home to about two million residents – had regained electricity, according to a report published by the state-run news portal Cubadebate.
“Of course I’m happy!” said Olga Gomez, a 59-year-old housewife in Havana, after the lights were turned back on.
“I have an old and senile mother aged 85 and an autistic son. It is very difficult when there is no electricity,” he said AFP.
However, many residents outside Havana are still experiencing power outages, according to authorities.
Cuba was still in the dark on Sunday as Typhoon Oscar made landfall in the eastern part of the country as a Category 1 storm, causing several deaths and damage.
“Unfortunately, according to preliminary information, six lives have been lost,” President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a televised statement.
The typhoon caused severe damage in the eastern province of Guantanamo, he said.
Oscar weakened to a tropical storm as it moved inland but was still expected to bring ‘major and life-threatening flash flooding along with landslides,’ the US National Hurricane Center warned. – AFP