HAVANA – Hurricane Rafael slammed into Cuba’s southwestern coast on Wednesday, bringing sustained winds of 115 mph and wreaking havoc on a country already in crisis, knocking out Cuba’s national power grid.
The hurricane raged about 60 miles west of Cuba’s capital Havana on Wednesday night, bringing heavy downpours and gusty winds to the capital of nearly 2 million people.
The Miami-based National Hurricane Center warned of “life-threatening storm surge, damaging hurricane-force winds and flash flooding” across much of western Cuba. The region, including Havana, remains under a hurricane warning.
Cuba’s state-owned grid operator UNE said strong winds caused the country’s power system to collapse. State television reported that 10 million people on the island were without power, in at least the second such incident in less than a month.
By mid-afternoon, conditions in Havana (east of the storm’s expected path) were rapidly deteriorating, with wind and rain already knocking down trees and power lines on city streets.
The capital of 2 million residents is particularly vulnerable to hurricanes and flooding, with old, crowded homes and crumbling infrastructure.
Police cars with loudspeakers began circling central neighborhoods, encouraging people to shelter in place ahead of the storm.
Schools and public transportation in the city were suspended until further notice, and authorities suspended flights from Havana’s José Martí International Airport and the popular beach resort of Varadero until Thursday.
Officials said they had evacuated more than 100 Canadian tourists from Key Largo, another popular beach destination in southwest Cuba.
The agricultural provinces of Artemisa and Pinar del Río – home to the precious tobacco used in Cuba’s famous hand-rolled cigars – are expected to take a near-direct hit as Rafael makes landfall on the Caribbean island. Agriculture Minister Ydael Pérez Brito said farmers had taken action to protect the region’s 8,000 metric tons of tobacco, as well as ripe fruits and vegetables.
The timing couldn’t be worse for the communist-run island, which just last month saw another total collapse of its national grid, leaving the country without power for days.
Hurricane Oscar made landfall in Cuba’s far east while causing power outages, dealing a one-two punch to a country severely short of food, fuel and medicine, depleting precious resources.
Cuba plunged into a full-blown crisis this year as oil imports from Venezuela, Russia and Mexico dwindled, leaving outdated oil-fired power plants struggling to keep functioning.
The hurricane is the latest blow to the country’s already precarious power grid and infrastructure.
Rafael swept across the Cayman Islands as a Category 1 hurricane overnight, then upgraded to a more powerful Category 3 storm off Cuba’s southwest coast in less than 24 hours.
Forecasters predict Rafael will turn toward the western Gulf of Mexico later this week, but the path remains uncertain, the hurricane center said.
