Hurricane Rafael destroys homes and power lines in Cuba

Hurricane Rafael struck western Cuba on Thursday, causing widespread damage in Artemisa province, known as Havana's breadbasket. The storm toppled power lines, damaged homes, and uprooted trees. It also knocked out power for 10 million people.

Hurricane Rafael tore through western Cuba, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake on Thursday.

Artemisa province, a farm province known as Havana's bread basket, took the brunt of the hurricane's impact. Violent winds flattened several high-tension power lines along the region's principal highway, and fallen trees littered roadways in the provincial capital.

The storm, with fierce winds and torrential rain, damaged countless homes and a local stadium and uprooted trees across the region.

Cuban authorities said they had begun restoring power to the eastern half of the island on Thursday, a day after Hurricane Rafael knocked out the country's electrical grid, leaving 10 million people in the dark.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the hurricane had spun off westward into the Gulf of Mexico, where it no longer posed an immediate threat to land.

Rafael was the latest blow to the Communist-run country's already precarious electrical grid, which just two weeks ago collapsed multiple times, leaving many in the country without power for days and sparking scattered protests across the island.

The Energy and Mines Ministry said on Thursday afternoon it was making progress restoring power to pockets of central and eastern Cuba, but warned the process would be slower in western parts of the island, which were hardest hit by the storm.

Havana, the capital city of two million, was still without power late in the day on Thursday, and authorities had not said when it would be restored.

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