Cuban Power Grid Collapses for 4th time as Hurricane Nears

The Cuban Electrical Union said about 16% of the country had had power restored when the aging energy grid again overloaded late Saturday, and according to the local state-run power company more than 216,000 people in the capital of Havana, a city of two million, had power restored Sunday afternoon.

However, later Sunday afternoon, the power grid collapsed again, for the fourth time since Friday.

At a news conference on Sunday, Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy said 52,000 power workers were trying to restore service but the arrival of Hurricane Oscar in eastern Cuba would likely hamper their efforts.

Hurricane Oscar made its first landfall on Inagua Island in The Bahamas, with maximum estimated sustained winds of 80 mph, according to the 5 a.m. EDT update from the National Hurricane Center on Sunday.

It is forecast to reach the northeastern coast of Cuba as a hurricane later this afternoon. “Weakening is expected after landfall, but Oscar could still be a tropical storm when it moves north of Cuba late Monday and moves across the central Bahamas on Tuesday,” NHC said.

Cuba’s first island-wide blackout happened on Friday, when one of the country’s major power plants failed, according to the energy ministry. Most people in the 10 million-strong country have had their access to power interrupted since then.

Hours after officials said power was being slowly restored, the country suffered a second nationwide blackout on Saturday morning.

The blackouts threaten to plunge the communist-run nation into a deeper crisis. Water supply and keeping food fresh are both dependent on reliable power.