Cuba left reeling after Category 3 hurricane ravages island and knocks out power grid

Cuba was left reeling Thursday after a fierce Category 3 hurricane ripped across the island and knocked out the country’s power grid.The magnitude of the impact remained unclear through the early hours of the day, but forecasters warned that Hurricane Rafael could bring “life-threatening” storm surges, winds and flash floods to Cuba after ravaging parts of the Cayman Islands and Jamaica.On Wednesday evening, massive waves lashed at Havana’s shores as sharp winds and rain whipped at the historic cityscape, leaving trees littered on flooded roads.Much of the city was dark and deserted.As it plowed across Cuba, the storm slowed to a Category 2 hurricane chugging into the Gulf of Mexico near northern Mexico and southern Texas, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.But many Cubans were left picking up the pieces from the night before, with a strange sense of déjà vu after a rocky few weeks in the Caribbean nation.In October, the island was hit by a one-two punch.First, Cuba was roiled by stretching island-wide blackouts stretching on for days, a product of the island’s energy crisis.Shortly after, it was slapped by another powerful hurricane that killed at least six people in the eastern part of the island.It stoked discontent already simmering in Cuba amid an ongoing economic crisis, which has pushed many to migrate from Cuba.While the State Department issued a travel warning for Cuba because of the story, the Cuban government also raised an alarm, asking citizens to hunker down.Classes and public transport were suspended on parts of the island and authorities canceled flights in and out of Havana and Varadero.Thousands of people in the west of the island were evacuated as a preventative measure, and many more like Silvia Pérez, a 72-year-old retiree living in a coastal area of Havana, scrambled to prepare.

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