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https://www.granma.cu/cuba/2024-10-21/la-falta-de-combustibles-es-la-principal-causa-de-afectacion-del-sistema-electrico-nacional-21-10-2024-00-10-19

Cuban gov't is admitting the problem is fuel in this morning's Granma. I'd imagine it's much worse than they would ever publish.

A few friends in Havana have power this morning going on about 4 hours, but most of Havana including Habana Viejo is still without. I suppose they're going to roll whatever capacity is sustainable throughout the capitol in shifts moving forward.

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Posted

Being in the power generation business, I can attest that a failing old system combined with a complete black outs can be extremely hard to restore, fuel issues aside. The starting current to restore a large portion of the grid is so tricky. I assume their grid and load dispatching systems are archaic to say the least.

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Was there on Thursday for the 1st brown out of about 4 hours. Then it went off Friday 9am until 7pm the next day. Every house I entered was 100F+ and the mosquitos were ready to pounce on you. I had to cut every conversation short just to get away from that. As the sun was setting it was evident that this was going to be an all-nighter. A mini-mart near the house has a generator and we could get beer and other items until 9pm. There was a party in front of the store until they closed. They had a big flood light so I felt safe in that area. But when I went to the restaurant 2 blocks away it was pitch black. I walked in the middle of the street and couldn't see the holes in the road. Fortunately, there was a lot of groups walking around (young and old) so it removed some of the anxiety about getting whacked in the head with a Louisville Slugger. Yup, you guessed it...the restaurant was closed. The gas station on 42nd St and 33 Ave (Playa) was up and running as they have a generator to supply the rent-a-cars and a mini-mart. The walk home was still scary, as I was waiting for the gang bangers to come out of the bushes. I tried to drink as much HC7 and beer humanly possible to get to sleep but the mosquitos would have none of that. I was up all night pouring rubbing alcohol on the bites just to reduce the stinging itch. My legs look like they got hit with No 7 birdshot. We lost everything in the fridge. We made coffee and breakfast (oatmeal) over charcoal. On Saturday headed to the airport and we took off on schedule. Lots of screaming and shouting from passengers who wanted to cut their vacations short. No power, no restaurants, no phone, no internet, no promise of when the lights will be back on, "who wants to be here" they would say. I saw an American pay over $1000 for a one way ticket to Miami. The AC was off in the airport, it was being run by a generator.  As mentioned above, the power has been off and on 4 times since the blackout. Tough trip. John

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That's sort of the understanding I'm getting from reports I'm seeing. But yet, in the resorts everything's cushy. Glad you got out. Feeling for the people. How much generator fuel do the resorts carry? Fridge food is spoiled now. What's the water situation? Powers coming online...but everywhere? And for how long? 🙏

Posted
  On 10/21/2024 at 10:40 PM, ha_banos said:

That's sort of the understanding I'm getting from reports I'm seeing. But yet, in the resorts everything's cushy. Glad you got out. Feeling for the people. How much generator fuel do the resorts carry? Fridge food is spoiled now. What's the water situation? Powers coming online...but everywhere? And for how long? 🙏

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Water for quite some time has been hit and miss. In some areas like Centro Habana (Capitol Building) they went without it 6 weeks. You have to pay a truck to bring it to you if you and the neighbors have the $$$. Other areas in Havana it had been every 3-4 days. My father-in-law uses a pump to pull more from the street and another pump to put it on the roof. Not everyone has a pump. Cooking is done by electric or natural gas. Gas is supplied through a street system or with tanks from the ration card. Many complained to me the tanks from the ration card are about 10 days behind and the street system uses some electricity to move it to the homes. So they are stuck using charcoal, if they have any. Can anyone confirm a hotel in Havana that had power with a generator? John 

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Checkout the Lizards Lounge recent podcast on their experiences during the blackout and trying to get out of Cuba. The bit about the elevator and the electricity would drive anyone crazy. John

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I cannot believe those idiots let RFK talk them out of accepting the nuclear reactor Russia offered to build for them.

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