Cuba fights to come back from a nationwide blackout, then a storm that killed 7

HAVANA (AP) — A small town in Cuba was recovering Tuesday from flooding that killed at least seven people after Oscar crossed the island’s eastern coast as a tropical storm with winds and heavy rain.

Cuba’s capital was partially illuminated after a large-scale blackout generated a handful of protests and a stern government warning that any unrest would be punished. President Miguel Díaz-Canel said on state television that rescue and recovery work continued in the town of San Antonio del Sur and officials hadn’t yet entered some flooded areas. On Tuesday, he confirmed another death in the small town of Imias in the province of Guantanamo. People in Havana collected subsidized food Tuesday and said the country faced an intensive recovery period.

“There are lines everywhere you go,” city resident Carlos López said. “You get to a place and there are obstacles and obstacles.” Tropical Storm Oscar disintegrated as it headed toward the Bahamas after making landfall in Cuba as a Category 1 hurricane. The remnants were expected to drop up to 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain across the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Modesto Hernández, who lives in central Havana, said Tuesday that he and others “don’t know anything about what is going on.” “These problems need to be solved now,” he said. “We are in bad shape.” Díaz-Canel warned on national television Sunday that “we’re not going to allow any vandalism, or let anyone disturb people’s tranquility.”