Entire island of Cuba without power after passage of Hurricane Rafael

Cubans are having a bad sense of deja vu after the second major hurricane and islandwide power outage in two weeks.

The entire island of Cuba has been left without power for the second time in two weeks after Hurricane Rafael tore across its western farmlands with raging winds, destroying crops and knocking down trees and power lines.

Information was scarce on Thursday morning after the passage of the Category 3 storm overnight, after which Rafael lost intensity as it entered the Gulf of Mexico, according to the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Forecasters warned that Rafael’s maximum sustained winds of 185km/h (115mph) could bring “life-threatening” storm surges, winds and flash floods to Cuba, an island of 10 million people that is highly vulnerable to bad weather due to its older, poorly maintained housing and public infrastructure.

Residents of the capital, Havana, emerged from their homes to inspect the damage and found streets relatively dry after Rafael ended up cutting through the island about 60km (40 miles) west of the city, affecting Cuba’s internationally renowned tobacco-growing region in the province of Artemisa and Pinar del Rio.

Farmers had moved to protect 8,000 tonnes of stored tobacco leaves in the area as well as ripening fruits and vegetables, Agriculture Minister Ydael Perez Brito said.