Weeks after the nationwide blackout, Cuba has lost power due to Hurricane Rafael

Cuba was once again without power as strong winds from Hurricane Rafael knocked out power across the island, the county's electric company said, weeks after another nationwide blackout.

The Category 3 storm swirled past the Cayman Islands on Wednesday afternoon on its way toward western Cuba and made landfall in Artemisa province, east of Playa Majana. According to the National Hurricane Center, the hurricane made landfall at 4:15 p.m. with maximum sustained winds of about 115 miles per hour.

Millions of Cubans were without electricity in Octoberwhich prompted the government to take emergency measures to reduce demand, including suspending classes, closing some government workplaces and cutting non-essential services. Cubans without electricity cooked on improvised wood-burning stoves on the street before the food in the refrigerators spoiled while they waited for the power to come back on.

The outage was the latest in a series of power distribution problems in a country where electricity has been limited and distributed to different regions at different times of day. Hurricane Ian damaged various power systems in the country, leaving some homes without power for up to eight hours a day. The October blackout was considered Cuba's worst blackout in two years and took energy authorities days to complete to restore power for around 2 million people.

The U.S. State Department issued an advisory for Cuba on Tuesday afternoon, offering departure flights for non-essential personnel and American citizens and advising others to “reconsider travel to Cuba due to the potential impacts of Tropical Storm Rafael” before the storm intensified Hurricane.

On Tuesday morning, Cuban Civil Defense urged Cubans to prepare as quickly as possible because if the storm makes landfall, “it is important to stay where you are.” The day before, authorities said they had issued an evacuation order for 37,000 people in Cuba's far east, Guantanamo province, due to bad weather.

Hurricane Rafael is expected to continue moving toward Florida and nearby areas of the southeastern United States, with heavy rainfall forecast. Storm surges are forecast to reach 1 to 3 feet in Dry Tortugas and 1 to 2 feet in the Lower Florida Keys.