Cuba faces tropical storm Oscar as nationwide power crisis hits 4th day – National [Video]

Cuba’s widespread blackouts stretched into their fourth day as Hurricane Oscar crossed the island’s eastern coast with winds and heavy rain.

In Santo Suárez, part of a populous neighborhood in southwestern Havana, people went into the streets banging pots and pans in protest Sunday night. The protesters, who say they have no water either, blocked the street with garbage.

Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said in a news conference he hopes the electricity grid will be restored on Monday or Tuesday morning.

But he said that Oscar, which made landfall on the eastern coast Sunday evening, will bring “an additional inconvenience” to Cuba’s recovery since it will touch a “region of strong (electricity) generation.” Key Cuban power plants, such as Felton in the city of Holguín, and Renté in Santiago de Cuba, are located in the area.

Oscar later weakened to a tropical storm but its effects were forecast to linger in the …