CNN
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Millions of Cubans were without power for a third day in a row on Sunday – even before the arrival of Hurricane Oscar – as fresh efforts to restore power failed overnight, and the power grid went down for the fourth time.
The Cuban Electricity Association said 16% of the country’s electricity had been restored as the aging energy grid was reloaded late Saturday, and the capital city of 2 million has more than 216,000 residents, according to the local state-run power company. Power was restored on Sunday afternoon.
However, after Sunday afternoon, the power supply went down 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 electrical workers were trying to restore service, but the arrival of Hurricane Oscar in eastern Cuba could hamper their efforts.
Hurricane Oscar made landfall near Baracoa in eastern Cuba at 5:50 p.m. EDT as a Category 1 storm with sustained winds of 80 mph. But by Sunday night, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) announced that Oscar had weakened to a tropical storm — a designation weaker than a hurricane — and was moving west-southwest of the country at 6 mph.
“Through Wednesday morning, 6 to 12 inches of rainfall is expected across eastern Cuba, with isolated amounts of 18 inches,” the NHC said, adding that 8 inches of rain would appear in isolated amounts in the southeastern Bahamas.
It has won an Oscar before Landslide on Inagua Island in the Bahamas with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, the NHC said.
Cuba’s first island-wide blackout occurred Friday after one of the country’s main power plants failed, according to the Energy Ministry. Most people in the 10-million-strong nation have since been cut off from access to power.
A second blackout hit the country Saturday morning, hours after officials said power was slowly being restored.
The blackouts threaten to plunge the communist-run nation into deep crisis. Both water supply and keeping food fresh depend on reliable power.
Some began filling WhatsApp chats with updates on which areas had power, while others briefly arranged to stock the refrigerators of people who had electricity — or were lucky enough to have a generator.
In Havana, residents waited for hours to buy some bread from the few places that sell bread in the capital. When the bread sold out, many angrily argued that they had been skipped in line.
Many wondered aloud where Cuba’s traditional allies such as Venezuela, Russia and Mexico were. Until now, they keep the island much-needed barrels of oil to light the lamps.
Meanwhile, tourists can be seen driving around Havana’s main thoroughfares in classic 1950s cars, despite many hotel generators running out of fuel.
A foreign observer told CNN that Havana’s José Martí International Airport was running on emergency power only, printers for issuing tickets were not working and the terminal had no air conditioning.
Reuters reporters witnessed two small protests overnight on Sunday, while videos of protests elsewhere in the capital have also emerged.
The Cuban government is canceling classes for students Monday through Wednesday, having previously canceled them on Fridays. It has also advised non-essential workers to stay at home. The U.S. Embassy in Havana will be open Monday for emergency services only.
Cuban officials have blamed the energy crisis on a confluence of events ranging from increased U.S. sanctions to disruptions caused by recent hurricanes and the impoverished state of the island’s infrastructure.
In a televised address on Thursday, delayed by technical problems, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz said much of the country’s limited production had been shut down to avoid leaving people without electricity.
“We are freezing economic activities to generate (power) for the population,” he said.
The country’s health minister, Jose Angel Portal Miranda, said on Friday X that the country’s health facilities are running on generators and health workers continue to provide essential services.
CNN’s Mia Alberti, Jean Norman, Rob Shackelford And CNN en Español’s Veronica Calderon and Gerardo Lemos contributed to this report.