Unión Eléctrica de Cuba: More than 270 thousand customers affected by blackouts in western provinces after storms

The Electrical Union (UNE) reported this Saturday that there are just over 270,000 customers who have suffered interruptions in the supply of electricity in the western provinces after the severe storms that affected those territories in recent hours.

Until 6 in the morning this Saturday, the following were affected:13,679 clients in Pinar del Río; 120,000 in Havana; 43,808 in Mayabeque; 54,787 in Artemisa and 38,000 in Matanzas.

"In total, 270,274 Unión Eléctrica clients were counted affected by this climate phenomenon," the entity concluded in information released byCubadebate.

To face the critical situation29 brigades have been organized made up of linemen from different provinces, among them Villa Clara, Pinar del Río, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus and Ciego de Ávila.

Unión Eléctrica says it "is working hard to resolve this situation as quickly as possible and restore electric service to all of its affected customers."

"The deployed brigades are expected to carry out repair and maintenance work on the electrical networks with the aim of minimizing interruptions and returning electricity to the affected homes in the shortest possible time," the note stated.

The company has expressed "its commitment to keeping the population informed about progress in restoring the electricity supply."

Previously the Havana Electric Company had reported numerous breakdowns as a result of the strong storms that affected the capital since Friday afternoon.

A tweet published by the Presidency of Cuba assured that Díaz-Canel visited the Havana Electric Company to check the situation in the capital in the face of intense rains and severe local storms.

On this Saturday morning, a contingent of 45 workers from the Pinar del Río Electrical Company left for Havana to support the recovery work in the country's capital, as reported on social networks by Yamilé Ramos Cordero, First Secretary of the Committee. Provincial PCC in that province.

Due to the strong storm that affected the capital and other western provinces since Friday afternoon, in recent hours there have also beensevere flooding in some municipalities of Havana, mainly in Diez de Octubre, Cerro and San Miguel del Padrón

Added to the flooding associated with heavy rains is thehail fall recorded in the capital itself and in other western provinces such as Artemisa.

The bad weather in the west of the country is expected to persist in the coming hours and spread to the central provinces.