Cuba was plunged into darkness Tuesday night due to widespread power outages caused by damage to the power grid caused by Hurricane Ian, state electric utility Union Eléctrica announced.
The country is “no electrical service,” the company tweeted, explaining this national blackout as a Category 3 hurricane swept through the west of the island, without causing any casualties, before turning to Florida.
“There is currently no electricity service anywhere in the country,” Lázaro Guerra, technical director of Union Eléctrica told Cuban television.
The Ministry of Energy and Minerals said it was an “exceptional situation”, and the solution “requires great accuracy”, and that electricity service will be restored gradually.
Only a few people with a gasoline-powered generator at home or in the office have access to power in this country of 11.2 million people.
While the effects of the cyclone were still being felt on the coast, at night, residents walked the streets guided by their mobile phones, and lit candles or searchlights in some homes.
Ian Pinar del Rio, the westernmost province of the island, hit hard in the early hours of the morning, causing significant material damage there, as well as in the neighboring towns of Artemisa and Havana, where 2.1 million people live.
