The power outage caused by Hurricane Ian has prompted protests in the streets of Cuba’s capital as several hundred people demanded the restoration of electricity more than two days after a blackout hit the entire island.
(Associated Press).- An Associated Press journalist saw about 400 people gathered Thursday night in at least two spots in the Cerro neighborhood shouting, “We want light, we want light,” and banging pots and pans.
It appeared to be the first public display over the electricity problems that spread from western Cuba, where Ian hit, to the entire island, leaving the country’s 11 million people in the dark. The storm also left three people dead and caused still unquantified damage.
Power was restored to much of the island within a day after the storm’s blast.
Internet service was interrupted
Internet service was interrupted Thursday, but there were signs it had returned by Friday morning, at least in some areas.
On Thursday, groups that monitor internet access reported a “near-total internet blackout in Cuba.” Alp Toker, director of London-based Netblockssaid that what his group saw was different than what happened right after the hurricane hit the island.
Cubans on Thursday complained that the outages forced them to throw out refrigerated meat and other goods that are costly or hard to find.
The government has not said what percentage of the overall population remained without electricity as of early Friday, September 30, but electrical authorities said only 10% of Havana’s 2 million people had power on Thursday, September 29.
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