Power Partly Restored In Cuba After Hurricane Rafael

Umer Jamshaid Published November 08, 2024 | 05:20 PM

Havana, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Nov, 2024) Power was restored to parts of Cuba on Thursday a day after Hurricane Rafael swept over the island, leaving its 10 million inhabitants without electricity for the second time in a month.

Rafael, a Category 3 hurricane, ripped roofs from homes and bleachers from a baseball stadium as it barreled across the island, which was already reeling from a deadly storm last month.

The hurricane also caused a nationwide blackout, just two weeks after a power plant failure plunged the island into darkness for four days.

There were no reports of fatalities in the latest storm.

Nearly 250,000 people were evacuated from their homes before it hit, according to the authorities.

By Thursday afternoon, power had been restored "between the center and the east" of the island, President Miguel Diaz-Canel's office said.

The president visited affected parts of Havana, Artemisa and Mayabeque provinces, where plantain and yucca crops had been wiped out.

In the city of Havana, where 461 buildings partially or fully collapsed according to the authorities, residents used brooms, shovels and buckets to clear debris from the streets.