Hurricane Rafael slams Cuba, causes power outage: See photos of aftermath

Ahjané Forbes, USA TODAY
Updated ·2 min read
A light post toppled by heavy winds lies on a street after Hurricane Rafael knocked out the country's electrical grid, leaving 10 million people without electric service, in Havana, Cuba, Nov. 7, 2024.
A light post toppled by heavy winds lies on a street after Hurricane Rafael knocked out the country's electrical grid, leaving 10 million people without electric service, in Havana, Cuba, Nov. 7, 2024.

Cuba is working to recover after Hurricane Rafael hit the island on Wednesday.

The National Hurricane Center said at 4:15 p.m. ET the storm struck the Cuban province of Artemisa just east of Playa Majana. In its 1 a.m. update, the hurricane center said Rafael was 115 miles west-northwest of Havana. The storm's maximum sustained winds had diminished to 105 mph, making it a Category 2 storm.

Rafael, which carried winds of up to 115 mph, brought down the island's electrical grid before the system headed to the Gulf of Mexico.

“Strong winds caused by the Hurricane, of great intensity, Rafael, (will) cause the disconnection of the National Electric System,” Unión Eléctrica de Cuba, the country’s electrical company said in a post on X. “Contingency protocols are applied.”

In an update from Diktyon, an independent organization that monitors Cuba’s internet, said that they are monitoring the internet as the hurricane caused a power outage throughout the country.

Using a traffic trends graph, from Cloudflare Radar, in the post from Diktyon it shows the decline of internet traffic in Cuba.

In a Thursday update Diktyon said which services are affected on the island.

“There are more than 1,400 radio base sites affected, representing approximately 60% of the antennas in the country," a X post reads,

Diktyon adds that 90,000 landlines have also been affected.

Two weeks ago, Cuba experienced a power outage that left about 10 million of its residents in the dark. Hurricane Oscar, a Category 1 hurricane, left the country without power when the Antonio Guiteras power plant, the country's largest and most efficient, first went offline.

Authorities have suspended flights, transportation, and classes in the affected areas. Evacuations will continue in the coastal zones, Excélsior, a Spanish-language newspaper, reported.

Hurricane Rafael: Storms into Gulf after slamming Cuba, collapsing power grid

Photos show aftermath of Hurricane Rafael in Cuba

A man pushes a scooter as Hurricane Rafael passes by Havana, Cuba, Nov. 6, 2024.
A man pushes a scooter as Hurricane Rafael passes by Havana, Cuba, Nov. 6, 2024.
A tourist from China tries to hold his umbrella as Hurricane Rafael passes by Havana, Cuba, Nov.. 6, 2024.
A tourist from China tries to hold his umbrella as Hurricane Rafael passes by Havana, Cuba, Nov.. 6, 2024.
People run on the street as Hurricane Rafael passes by Havana, Cuba, Nov. 6, 2024.
People run on the street as Hurricane Rafael passes by Havana, Cuba, Nov. 6, 2024.
People wade through a flooded street after the passage of Hurricane Rafel in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on Nov. 7, 2024.
People wade through a flooded street after the passage of Hurricane Rafel in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on Nov. 7, 2024.
A man stands in front of the ruins of his house destroyed by the passage of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on November 7, 2024. Hurricane Rafael knocked out power to all of Cuba on Wednesday as it slammed through the cash-strapped island, which was still reeling from a recent blackout and a previous deadly storm. Rafael strengthened to a major Category 3 hurricane as it made landfall on the Caribbean island of 10 million people.
A man (C) cleans debris from the ruins of his house destroyed by the passage of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on Nov. 7, 2024.
A man (C) cleans debris from the ruins of his house destroyed by the passage of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on Nov. 7, 2024.
A car passes on a highway by a toppled electrical pylon a day after Hurricane Rafael made landfall in Cuba, near Artemisa, Cuba, Nov. 7, 2024.
A car passes on a highway by a toppled electrical pylon a day after Hurricane Rafael made landfall in Cuba, near Artemisa, Cuba, Nov. 7, 2024.
People pass by debris a day after Hurricane Rafael made landfall in Cuba, Artemisa, Cuba, Nov. 7, 2024.
People pass by debris a day after Hurricane Rafael made landfall in Cuba, Artemisa, Cuba, Nov. 7, 2024.
Cars pass by a toppled pylon with high tension electrical wires on a highway a day after Hurricane Rafael made landfall in Cuba, near Artemisa, Cuba, Nov. 7, 2024.
Cars pass by a toppled pylon with high tension electrical wires on a highway a day after Hurricane Rafael made landfall in Cuba, near Artemisa, Cuba, Nov. 7, 2024.
Residents recover their goods at a farmers' market after it was destroyed by Hurricane Rafael in Artemisa, Cuba, on Nov. 7, 2024.
Residents recover their goods at a farmers' market after it was destroyed by Hurricane Rafael in Artemisa, Cuba, on Nov. 7, 2024.
A woman wades through a flooded street after the passage of Hurricane Rafel in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on Nov. 7, 2024.
A woman wades through a flooded street after the passage of Hurricane Rafel in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on Nov. 7, 2024.

Contributing: Christopher Cann, Eric Lagatta, and Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY.  

Ahjané Forbes is a reporter on the National Trending Team at USA TODAY. Ahjané covers breaking news, car recalls, crime, food recalls, health, lottery, and public policy stories. Email her at aforbes@gannett.com. Follow her on Instagram, Threads and X (Twitter) @forbesfineest.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hurricane Rafael causes damage, leads to power outage: See photos

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