Rafael Targets Cuba’s Tobacco Regions

Cuba’s leading tobacco-producing regions were expected to take a direct hit as Hurricane Rafael slammed into the island’s southwest shore on Nov. 6, packing sustained winds of 185 kph, reports Reuters.

Farmers in Artemisa and Pinar del Rio provinces had moved to protect 8,000 metric tons of tobacco in the area, according to Agriculture Minister Ydael Pérez Brito, as well as ripening fruits and vegetables.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center warned of a “life-threatening storm surge, damaging hurricane-force winds and flash flooding” across much of western Cuba. The region, including Havana, remained under a hurricane warning.

Cuba’s state-run grid operator said the high winds had caused the country’s electrical system to collapse. State-run television reported the entire population of 10 million people was without electricity—the second such incident in less than a month on the island.

The hurricane is the latest blow to the country’s already precarious grid and infrastructure. Cuba’s obsolete oil-fired power plants reached a full crisis this year as oil imports from Venezuela, Russia and Mexico dwindled.