Candles, flashlights, mobile phone: in Cuba, completely deprived of electricity after the passage of hurricane Ian, the inhabitants resorted to makeshift means to have a little light in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday.
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In this country of 11.2 million inhabitants, few people have a gasoline generator except hospitals or public offices and administrations.
“What are we going to do? Survive,” Maykel, 35, told AFP curtly, helping a friend repair his “almendron,” one of those famous American sedans from the 1950s still circulating in Cuba.
Connected to the engine, a lamp hangs in the trunk of the car, parked on Paseo del Prado, one of the main avenues in the heart of Havana, totally plunged into darkness.
AFP
Across the country, the power grid is down. Ian, a major category 3 hurricane, caused major material damage in the province of Pinar del Rio (West) as well as in the neighboring cities of Artemisa and Havana and its 2.1 million inhabitants. Its center left Cuban territory at 9:50 a.m. (1:50 p.m. GMT).
In places, uprooted trees cut traffic. In Havana, the swell flooded the Malecon, a famous coastal boulevard.
AFP
“There is currently no electricity service anywhere in the country,” Lázaro Guerra, technical director of Union Eléctrica, the state electricity company, told Cuban television.
An “exceptional” event, according to the Ministry of Energy and Mines adding that electricity will be restored gradually.
AFP
The island is already experiencing serious difficulties in producing electricity due to the obsolescence of the eight thermoelectric power stations. This summer, power cuts have sparked protests, especially at night, with pot concerts, as without a fan or air conditioner it’s hard for many to get to sleep.
The power cuts had been one of the triggers for the large-scale anti-government demonstrations on July 11 and 12, 2021, the largest for 60 years on the communist island.
According to Mr. Guerra, the failure occurred on lines in the west, center and east of the country. “The Western Zone is experiencing an additional complication with a group of transmission lines out of service due to the passage of Hurricane Ian,” he added.
The outage worries Harold Baez, 27, a security guard at the famous Coppelia ice cream parlor in Havana.
“A breakdown of this magnitude always generates uncertainty, it’s normal,” he said, adding, “everything has to be overcome.” He goes to the cafeteria of the Habana Libre hotel which, like other establishments for international tourists, is kept lit by generators.
AFP
Without public lighting or traffic lights in the streets, the districts in the center of the capital are in total darkness. Some locals use candles or battery-powered lamps. Others come out onto their doorsteps, lighting up with their cell phones.
“We went out because the baby was crying,” says a woman who does not want to be identified, in light of her husband’s phone.
For Yoelmis Martínez, 36, employed in a restaurant, this breakdown can even be good. “It’s not that we wanted it, but it’s also a way to save money, that’s the positive side, at least we save money,” she confides, returning to the house of friends with whom she took refuge during the hurricane.