Entire island of Cuba without power after Hurricane Rafael | Weather News

After the second major hurricane and the island-wide power outage in two weeks, Cubans have a bad feeling of déjà vu.

The entire island of Cuba is without power for the second time in two weeks after Hurricane Rafael ripped through western farmland with furious winds, destroying crops and knocking down trees and power lines.

According to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), there was little information on Thursday morning after the Category 3 storm passed overnight, after which Rafael lost intensity as it entered the Gulf of Mexico.

Meteorologists warned that Rafael's maximum sustained wind speed of 185 kph (115 miles per hour) could bring “life-threatening” storm surges, winds and flash floods to Cuba, an island of 10 million that is highly vulnerable to bad weather because of its older, poor location Weather is well-maintained living space and public infrastructure.

Residents of the capital Havana emerged from their homes to inspect the damage and found the roads relatively dry after Rafael crossed the island about 60 km (40 miles) west of the city, impacting Cuba's internationally known tobacco-growing region in the province of Artemisa and Pinar del Rio.

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

The streets of Havana were deserted on Thursday. Most shops and schools were closed and transport services were slowly returning to service.

Authorities suspended flights until Thursday at both Havana's José Martí International Airport and the popular seaside resort of Varadero.

Déjà vu

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel's office said it was mobilizing the military to help respond to the storm.

“Measures have been taken at each location to protect our people and material resources. As we have always done since the revolution, we will overcome this situation.”

However, there was a grim sense of déjà vu for many Cubans, who lacked confidence in the communist government's ability to provide vital services such as food and electricity due to poor and limited economic relations with their nearest neighbor, the United States Resources from its socialist allies such as Venezuela, which is in its own political and economic crisis.

“I'm desperate, I'm homeless. “The roof is gone and I don’t know what to do,” Marta Leon Castro, 57, told AFP. At least five families in their neighborhood had lost all or part of their roofs.

“All the pieces of chicken and pork I bought will spoil in the fridge if we don’t get power back soon,” Giovanny Fardales, a professional translator in Havana, told Al Jazeera.

The island experienced a similar power outage nearly two weeks ago due to problems with its aging, oil-fired thermoelectric power plants.

Hurricane Oscar followed a few days later, causing widespread destruction in eastern Cuba and killing six people.

On this occasion, Cubans sweated during a four-day blackout across the island.

Busy hurricane season

Rafael is the 17th named storm of the season that ends this month and only the eighth major hurricane of Category 3 or stronger to form in November in the past 60 years.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast that the 2024 hurricane season was expected to be well above average, with 17 to 25 named storms. The forecast called for up to 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes.

An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, including seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

Rafael is the 11th hurricane to form this year. Five storms will develop into Category 3 severe storms with maximum sustained winds of 178 km/h (111 miles per hour) or greater.