Hurricane Oscar leaves at least six dead in Cuba as power outages persist

Cuban authorities say they are working to re-establish power access after days of blackouts across the island.

Cuban authorities say at least six people have been killed after Hurricane Oscar made landfall over the weekend, with the government still working to re-establish power after days of blackouts.

In a social media post on Monday, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said preliminary data showed at least six deaths resulting from the storm, which brought strong winds and rain to the eastern end of the island when it made landfall on Sunday. He said rescue efforts continue in some parts of the island.

“The last thing we want is that, as a consequence of a fallen power line, we suffer another collapse of the system,” said Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy, addressing efforts to restore power.

Electricity is slowly returning to Havana, Cuba’s capital, days after a nationwide blackout plunged the country of 10 million into total darkness on Friday, causing the government to close all non-essential workplaces and cancel school classes until Thursday.

According to Cuban officials, power was brought back to almost 90 percent of Havana as of Monday. Other areas remain without power, even after the island’s largest power plant was back online and helped boost generation.