As it approached the Turks and Caicos Islands on Tuesday, Fiona intensified into a major hurricane, leading the authorities of the British colony to impose a curfew.
Premier Washington Misick stated in a statement from London, where he was attending the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, that storms are unpredictable. Therefore, you must take every measure to safeguard your safety. On Thursday, Misick was supposed to return home.
According to the U.S. National Storm Center in Miami, Fiona was located approximately 45 miles south-southeast of Grand Turk Island early Tuesday morning with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, making it a Category 3 hurricane. It was travelling 10 mph north-northwest.
Fiona is observed nearing the Turks and Caicos Islands on September 20, 2022, after becoming a strong hurricane early that morning. NOAA
Finona is likely to continue intensifying over the next couple of days, although it is not projected to pose a threat to the U.S. mainland.
Early Tuesday morning, the storm was still dumping massive amounts of rain on the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
It rained “Puerto Rico will continue to experience life-threatening and catastrophic flooding, as well as mudslides and landslides. There is a high likelihood of life-threatening flash floods and urban flooding in eastern areas of the Dominican Republic “the center reported.
More than 900 people were evacuated by the National Guard as floodwaters continued to pour through communities in eastern and southern Puerto Rico, with some areas expecting up to 30 inches of rain.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona, on September 19, 2022, in Salinas, Puerto Rico, a member of the Puerto Rico National Guard wades through water in search of stranded individuals in flooded streets. RICARDO ARDUENGO / REUTERS
A 58-year-old Puerto Rican man was swept away by a river in the central highland hamlet of Comerio, according to the police.
A second fatality on the island was attributed to the widespread blackout caused by Fiona; a 70-year-old man was burned to death while attempting to refuel his running generator with gasoline, according to officials.
The impact of Hurricane Fiona was exacerbated by Puerto Rico’s inability to recover from Hurricane Maria, which killed over 3,000 people and damaged its electrical grid in 2017. More than 3,000 homes on the island are still covered in blue tarps five years later.
At least 1,300 people and over 250 animals remain in shelters across the island, according to authorities.
Fiona caused a blackout as it struck the southwest tip of Puerto Rico on Sunday, the anniversary of Hurricane Hugo’s Category 3 strike in 1989.
A man stands amid rubble on the beach at Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on September 19, 2022, in the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona. RICARDO ROJAS / REUTERS
On Monday evening, authorities reported that they had restored electricity to more than 114,000 consumers on the 3.2 million-person island.
The governor of Puerto Rico, Pedro Pierluisi, warned that it might be days before everyone had power.
More than 837,000 customers, or two-thirds of the total on the island, were left without water due to murky water at filtration plants or a shortage of power, according to officials.
Authorities recorded one fatality in the Dominican Republic: a man killed by a falling tree. At least two settlements were isolated by the storm, which displaced about 12,400 people.
High waves severely wrecked a tourist pier in the village of Miches, which the hurricane rendered inaccessible. According to officials, at least four international airports were closed.
President Luis Abinader of the Dominican Republic stated that officials would require several days to examine the storm’s impact.
Officials said that Hurricane Fiona earlier ravaged the eastern Caribbean, killing one man in the French island of Guadeloupe when flooding swept away his home.
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