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Cuba keeps schools closed, workers home during healing from power failure, cyclone

Cuba said on Wednesday it would keep schools closed and inessential workers home through Sunday as the crisisracked Caribbean island nation had a hard time to recover from the collapse of its power grid last Friday and Typhoon Oscar today.

The island's far eastern province of Guantanamo was especially hard hit by Oscar, that made landfall as a. classification one typhoon and unleashed more than 15 inches of rain. in some areas. The cyclone was devalued to a tropical storm. before veering north to the Bahamas earlier this week.

The storm, combined with an almost extraordinary electrical. grid collapse on Friday, developed a nightmare situation in a. country already suffering dramatic food, fuel and medication. shortages.

The crisis prompted scattered demonstrations throughout Havana and. elsewhere in the country.

Authorities said late on Tuesday seven individuals had died as a. outcome of the storm. Cuba's armed forces had actually saved almost 500. individuals from remote locations isolated by floodwaters or landslides,. with upwards of 4,000 homeowners still housed in shelters.

Flash floods destroyed homes, roads, agricultural lands and. already decrepit facilities throughout the major. coffee-producing region. Wind and rain had actually damaged a minimum of. 2,280 homes, state-run media reported.

Communications were still spotty in rural areas, and the majority of. the eastern province stayed without power as emergency situation employees. tidied up tangles of downed power lines.

The United Nations said on Wednesday it would support Cuba. in recovery efforts following Oscar.

The storm had likewise made complex the healing of Cuba's. already precarious electrical grid. Cuba supported its. electrical service on Tuesday, but warned that blackouts would. continue as before the grid collapse.

Cuba's outdated power plants, having a hard time to keep the lights. on, reached a full crisis this year as oil imports from. Venezuela, Russia and Mexico dwindled, culminating in last. Friday's grid collapse.

A generation deficit of about one-third total demand was. expected on Wednesday, the nationwide electrical company said,. leaving numerous Cubans still in the dark.

(source: Reuters)