MADRID, Spain.- The passage of Hurricane Helene near the western region of Cuba has caused severe damage to the electricity supply, leaving some 233,697 people without power.
According to the most recent information from the official presswhich does not provide data on Havana, around 70,000 customers were without service in Pinar del Río on Wednesday evening. 144 interruptions were reported in the provincial capital out of a total of 438. Areas such as Guanito and San Diego have experienced failures, while the line that supplies Sandino is damaged, also affecting the water supply in the region.
The Artemisa Electric Company reported that more than 160,000 of its 200,000 customers are without electricity. The largest outage is located in circuit 1270 of the main city, due to the need to replace a transformer in the 110 Kv substation. According to the provincial director, Iscander Morales Suárez, the transformer is being moved from the municipality of Nueva Paz, in Mayabeque, and the team from the Mariel thermoelectric plant is working to restore service.
On the Isle of Youth, 3,697 customers, representing 12% of the total population, are also without electricity. Ignacio Luis Moya Álvarez, director of the Despacho Base Business Unit, reported that five brigades are working to resolve the problems “as soon as possible.”
In addition, in its path Helene caused damage in Pinar del Río. In the town of Cortés, south of the Sandino municipality, several houses suffered total collapses and one lost its roof, according to confirmed the regime’s official press on social media.
The Cuyaguateje River burst its banks and rose more than seven metres, forcing residents of the People’s Council of Isabel Rubio to move to the homes of friends and relatives. Eight families had to be evacuated in total.
The Meteorological Institute has forecast that although Hurricane Helene is moving away from Cuba, heavy rains will continue in the western and central regions.
Helene is expected to move across the Gulf of Mexico Thursday morning and afternoon, reaching the west coast of Florida in the area known as “Big Bend” in the evening.
