Double hurricane disaster leaves Cuban capital struggling with power crisis
Two hurricanes hit Cuba in less than a month causing nationwide blackouts and infrastructure damage. Russian fuel aid arrives as the island-nation deals with power restoration and basic necessities shortages
After hurricane Rafael hit Cuba yesterday‚ the islands electrical system got knocked-out leaving most of Havanas 2 million people without power; only about 20% of the capital got its lights back by late afternoon
The western farm-regions of Pinar del Rio and Artemisa remain dark while central and eastern parts of the island slowly regain power (the storm knocked down hundreds of power-lines and trees making recovery super-hard)
This disaster comes right after hurricane Oscar hit eastern Cuba about 3 weeks ago; the double-punch made things worse for a country thats already dealing with basic-goods shortages. Just before these storms the power-grid had major problems which led to some street actions
The situation is critical‚ there is no water there is no food everything is going to waste
The state power company UNE says that even places with working electricity will have black-outs because they dont have enough power to meet needs. The islands old power plants – which run on oil – have been having problems for many years
Moscow stepped in to help: theyʼll send about 80‚000 tons of diesel worth $60 million to help with the energy crisis. The timing is good because Cubaʼs usual fuel partners like Venezuela and Mexico sent less oil this year
