Havana – Cuban officials said they have started restoring some power after Wednesday Hurricane Ian knocked out power across the island It hit the western tip of the island as a major hurricane, destroying some of the country’s most important tobacco farms.
At least two people are reported to have been killed.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines announced that it has restored energy to three areas by activating two large power plants in Felton and Nuvitas and is working to get the others back on line.
Lights flickered in the capital Havana, but there was no electricity in the city and other parts of western Cuba on Wednesday. in the wake of a major storm, which moved north towards Florida. It was the first time in memory – perhaps ever – that the whole island had lost power.
“I’ve never had such a big blackout in my lifetime,” said Yamila Morena, a 51-year-old housewife who lives with her son in central Havana. “We can’t sleep at all without a fan, without air entering.”
On Tuesday, Ian hit Cuba, which is grappling with an economic crisis and frequent power cuts in recent months. It made landfall on the western end of the island as a Category 3 hurricane, ravaging Pinar del Río province, where much of the tobacco used for Cuba’s iconic cigars is grown.
Tens of thousands of people were evacuated and others fled before Ian arrived, causing floods, damage to houses and downed trees. State media reported two deaths in the province: one woman died of a wall collapse and another from a roof collapse.
Ian’s winds damaged one of Cuba’s most iconic tobacco farms, Finca Robena, where photos on social media smacked wood and thatched roofs to the ground, greenhouses and wagons overturned in rubble.
Power has been restored in parts of the country after Hurricane Ian caused a blackout across the island, according to Cuban officials.
A dropped utility survey in Pinar del Río, Cuba, on September 27, 2022.
Cubans playing dominoes with a flashlight during the blackout after Hurricane Ian.
Soldiers clearing debris from a road in Havana.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel said, “Although the first impression is very painful, there is nothing to do except overcome adversity.”
The US National Hurricane Center said Cuba suffered “significant wind and hurricane effects” when the storm struck with peak sustained winds of 125 mph (205 kph).
Ian was even stronger Wednesday when it made landfall off the Florida coast.
In Cuba, the local government station Telepinar reported heavy damage to the main hospital in the city of Pinar del Río, tweeting photos of collapsed roofs and fallen trees. No death was reported.
Videos on social media showed power lines downed and roads cut in Pinar del Río, Artemisa and Mayabec provinces. A hospital in Pinar del Río was damaged.
“The city is flooded,” said farmer Andy Munoz, 37, who lives in Playa Cazio in Artemisa.
He said that many people lost their belongings due to the storm.
“I spent the storm at home with my husband and dog. The house’s masonry and zinc roof had just been put up. But the storm broke it,” said Mercedes Valdés, who connects Pinar del Río to San Juan y Martínez. Lives along the highway. “We couldn’t save our belongings… we just ran away.”