Mexico City, Nov. 7, (dpa/GNA) – Hurricane Rafael knocked out power across Cuba on Wednesday, the county’s electric company said.
The state electricity provider UNE said the power grid collapsed due to the storm.
According to the US National Hurricane Center in Miami, Rafael reached sustained wind speeds of up to 185 kilometres per hour over the Caribbean. It warned that life-threatening storm surges, destructive winds and flooding were expected.
In October, Hurricane Oscar claimed the lives of at least seven people in Cuba and knocked out power for days.
Due to the poor condition of outdated infrastructure – partly a consequence of the more than 60-year-old US trade embargo – Cuba’s power plants regularly go offline and need to be hastily repaired. Power outages are a common occurrence across the country.
GNA