School is out and all non-essential work places ordered closed until Thursday after the island’s power grid collapsed.

Electricity has been restored to half of Havana, the Cuban capital's power company reported Monday, four days after the start of a nationwide blackout that the authorities have struggled to address. The government has said that electricity is expected to be restored to most of the country by the end of Monday.

Cuba's government said late on Saturday it had restored power to nearly one-fifth of the island's people after the national grid collapsed twice in 24 hours, plunging millions of people into darkness.

Many Cubans waited in anguish Sunday as electricity on much of the island had yet to be restored days after an island-wide blackout. Their concerns were also raised as Hurricane Oscar made landfall in the southeastern Bahamas and was heading toward their country.

Millions of Cubans awoke on Sunday to find their homes still without power after another partial grid failure overnight, deepening a crisis that has raised questions over the viability of the government's efforts to reestablish electrical service.

Millions of Cubans faced a third consecutive day without power as a hurricane loomed over the island nation Sunday. Sixteen percent of the country had power restored Saturday but attempts to restore it more widely failed overnight,

Many Cubans are waiting in anguish as electricity on much of the island has yet to be totally restored after days of blackout.

He also recognized that Oscar, which hit the island's eastern coast Sunday evening, will bring "an additional inconvenience" to Cuba's recovery since it will touch a "region of strong (electricity) generation.

People resorted to cooking with improvised wood stoves on the streets before the food went bad in refrigerators.