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."

The prolonged nationwide blackout that followed a massive outage Thursday night was part of countrywide energy problems that led to the largest protests in Cuba in almost 30 years, in July 2021. Those were followed by smaller local protests in October 2022 and March 2024.

All are part of a deep economic crisis that has prompted the exodus of more than half a million Cubans to the U.S., with thousands more heading to Europe.

The Cuban government and its allies blame the United States' 62-year-old trade embargo on the island for its economic problems but White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that the Cuban government’s “long-term mismanagement of its economic policy and resources has certainly increased the hardship of people in Cuba.”

Power remains relatively cheap but increasingly unavailable. The Cuban government on state television Monday night said that it’s producing 1300 megawatts when peak demand can hit 3 gigawatts. Authorities said by Monday afternoon that about 80% of Havana had intermittent power but people remained fearful. Classes remained closed through at least Thursday.

Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said Oscar would bring “an additional inconvenience” to Cuba's recovery since it would affect key Cuban power plants, such as Felton in the city of Holguín, and Renté in Santiago de Cuba.

Many of Havana's 2 million people resorted to cooking with improvised wood stoves on the streets before their food went bad in refrigerators. People lined up to buy subsidized food and few gas stations were open.

The failure of the Antonio Guiteras plant on Friday was the latest problem with energy distribution in a country where electricity has been restricted and rotated among different regions at different times.

The blackout was considered to be Cuba’s worst since Hurricane Ian hit the island as a Category 3 storm in 2022 and damaged power installations. It took days for the government to fix them.

Local authorities initially said the outage stemmed from increased demand from small- and medium-sized companies and residential air conditioners. Later, the blackout got worse because of breakdowns in old thermoelectric plants that haven’t been properly maintained, and the lack of fuel to operate some facilities.

Associated Press writer Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

A woman prepares to catch a tossed frisbee during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

FILE - Residents prepare a soup over an open fire during a blackout following the failure of a major power plant in Havana, Cuba, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, File)

Residents pass the time during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

FILE - A street vendor selling candles waits for customers during a blackout following the failure of a major power plant in Havana, Cuba, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, File)

A resident walks his bicycle during a blackout following the failure of a major power plant in Havana, Cuba, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A man drives his American classic car during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A cook looks in on a resident during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A man walks down the street holding slices of pizza during a massive blackout following the failure of a major power plant in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A person fishes along the boardwalk as waves crash during a power outage in Havana, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Residents pass the time at the malecon during a blackout following the failure of a major power plant in Havana, Cuba, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People play dominoes on the street during a power outage in Havana, Cuba, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Residents stand outside their homes to avoid the heat indoors during a massive blackout after a major power plant failed in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A woman buys soup from a street vendor during a power outage in Havana, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — England opted to keep Ollie Pope as its stand-in wicketkeeper for the second test against New Zealand starting Thursday.

After Jordan Cox broke his thumb ahead of the series opener in Christchurch last week, Ollie Robinson was called up as wicketkeeping cover and was in contention to make his first international appearance in the second test at Wellington’s Basin Reserve.

However, England kept faith with the same team that won by eight wickets on the fourth afternoon of the first test at Hagley Oval, meaning Pope retained the gloves and Jacob Bethell stayed at No. 3.

Pope was solid behind the stumps and hit 77 after moving down to No. 6 in the batting order. Bethell was also impressive on his debut, hitting 50 not out in the second innings.

“They always say when you don’t notice a keeper, he’s done a good job and Ollie certainly did that," England fast bowler Chris Woakes said. "To step up at short notice like that and do the job he did was fantastic.

“For him to score runs just shows his character, putting his hand up for the team without any fuss and cracking on."

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope, Ben Stokes (captain), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Shoaib Bashir.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

New Zealand's Glenn Phillips is airborne as he makes his ground while England's Ollie Pope attempts a run out during play on the second day of the first cricket test between England and New Zealand at Hagley Oval in Christchurch, New Zealand, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (Chris Symes/Photosport via AP)

England's Ollie Pope bats during play on the second day of the first cricket test between England and New Zealand at Hagley Oval in Christchurch, New Zealand, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (John Davidson/Photosport via AP)