Hurricane Rafael: Cuba without power as storm hits

The category three storm made landfall on Wednesday and is expected to bring storm surges and floods.

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The country's national energy company said strong winds had caused the shutdown of the electricity system.

At least 70,000 people were evacuated from their homes before the category three storm made landfall on Wednesday evening with warnings of storm surges, flash flooding, and mudslides.

It comes just weeks after millions were left without power for four days following a blackout caused by issues with the country's creaking energy infrastructure. The incident also coincided with Hurricane Oscar, which killed at least six people.

Rafael made landfall in the western province of Artemisa, near capital Havana, at around 16:15 local time (21:15 GMT), the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8jy1xxv7rzo

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