Hurricane Oscar’s arrival to eastern Cuba has impacted millions of residents already facing days without power, as fresh attempts to restore much of the nation’s electric grid have failed.
In the capital city of Havana early Monday, people were seen outdoors in poor lighting, a few playing dominoes to kill time. Children are opting to sleep outside to cool off from the stifling heat indoors – schools have also been canceled until Thursday.
Oscar made landfall near Baracoa along Cuba’s eastern shores around Sunday afternoon as a Category 1 storm with winds of 80 mph. By Sunday night, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) announced that Oscar had weakened to a tropical storm and was moving toward the west-southwest of the country at 6 mph.
Earlier Oscar made landfall on Inagua Island in The Bahamas, with maximum estimated sustained winds of 80 mph, the NHC said.
On Sunday afternoon the Cuban Electrical Union announced that more than 216,000 people in Havana, a city of 2 million, had power restored. The power grid collapsed again later in the day –– for the fourth time since Friday.
Credit: cnn.com
