Hurricane Ian: Cuba suffers complete blackout after storm

BBC News:

Cuba is completely without power after Hurricane Ian pummelled the western end of the island, its government has announced.

The electrical system is experiencing total collapse, officials said, after one of the main power plants could not be brought back online.

One person was killed and buildings were damaged across the country.

The category three hurricane, packing wind speeds of up to 195km/h (120mph), is now bearing down on Florida.

On Cuban state television on Tuesday, the head of the electrical energy authority announced that an island-wide blackout had occurred as a result of the national electrical system’s breakdown.

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A journalist with a state-run news agency reported that 100% of the electrical circuits in the country were out of service and that “the Antonio Guiteras thermo-electric power plant… could not be synchronised”.

Based in Matanzas, 100km east of the capital Havana, Antonio Guiteras is the most important energy plant in Cuba. Its shutdown means there is currently no electricity generation anywhere on the island.

Last month, the fuel depot in Matanzas was damaged by a huge fire, cutting the available fuel storage capacity in half and sparking rolling blackouts across Cuba.

Forecasters had warned that some regions of Cuba could see up to 30cm (12in) of rain under Hurricane Ian.

Mayelin Suarez, a resident of Pinar del Rio, called Monday night, when the storm hit, “the darkest of her life”.

“We almost lost the roof off our house,” she told Reuters. “My daughter, my husband and I tied it down with a rope to keep it from flying away.”

Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel visited the province and vowed that it would rise “above adversity”, the Cuban presidency tweeted.