Without power since Friday, residents of Cuba and travelers from Quebec are worried, just hours before the hurricane passes oscar, Which threatens to complicate an already precarious situation.
Gil Audet spends several months in Havana every year, but for him this is “the worst collapse he has ever seen in Cuba.” It was impossible to talk to him on the phone because internet connection is currently very poor in several parts of Cuba. “It's very difficult to communicate, which is worrying,” he says.
Many travelers in Quebec are very anxious on social networks. On Saturday, travelers preparing to travel to Cuba wondered. “We haven't heard anything from the travel agency. There's no news,” a Quebec resident said on LCN.
She wasn't the only one. Many customers who boarded the four planes departing from Montreal to Cuba regretted not receiving any communication from their airline or travel agency.
Next to him was a man who expected the worst because several hotels in Cuba were plunged into darkness.
Hurricane Oscar
Oscarday 18e The hurricane season is expected to hit eastern Cuba on Monday evening. Areas near the cities of Holguin, Camagüey and Santiago de Cuba, in particular, are at risk of being affected. The Government of Canada issued a travel advisory this morning to avoid non-essential travel to the Holguin, Guantanamo and Las Tunas areas.
The hurricane is currently a Category 1 hurricane. Wind speed is expected to reach 130 km/h.
Since Friday, the country has been suffering from a major power outage after one of the most important thermal power stations, the Antonio Guiteras station, stopped working. Since then, electricity has been restored to a few places, but the majority of people are still in the dark.
In Guadelevaca, people prepare for the arrivalOscar. Residents installed PVC water tanks on the roofs of their homes, on the antennas, and to protect their windows, according to Mario Da Rocha, who lives in the city.
“One of the biggest problems right now is that people can't charge their phones to call their families, because of power outages,” says Mr da Rocha. “They line up at the local restaurant that has a generator to plug in their devices.”
Gradual return of electricity
The Cuban government announced on Sunday afternoon that it would restore the country's electricity system by Monday evening, before the hurricane hits the coast.
In the area around the town of Matanzas, near Varadero, where the Guiteras power plant is located, power had already been restored on Sunday morning. “We have electricity in Matanzas because we are close to the power plant,” he explains. newspaper Andres Villa Diane who lives in the city.
Difficulty getting to work
“Right now, a lot of people in hotels are citing staff shortages,” explains Maria, nicknamed La Cubacoise on social media. She receives several letters from acquaintances in Cuba as well as from Quebecers traveling there. Currently, due to the difficulty of obtaining fuel, many transportation systems are unable to operate.
“Someone who hasn't had electricity for 30 hours, who can't cook, who can't wash, who doesn't have access to transportation, is definitely not going to be fit to get to work,” she explains.
Cuba is now in what is called a “national lockdown” (National parish In Spanish). “Schools and non-essential services are closed until further notice, and food stores are also closed, because the country does not have the electrical capacity to operate them safely,” Maria says.
