After destroying the electrical grid and causing floods and landslides in Puerto Rico, where the governor described the damage as “catastrophic,” Hurricane Fiona made landfall in the Dominican Republic on Monday.
The Dominican Republic, northern Haiti, and the Turks and Caicos Islands were all expected to be hit by Fiona early on Monday along with the possibility of significant rainfall. On Tuesday, it might pose a hazard to the extreme southern part of the Bahamas.
Both the Turks and Caicos Islands as well as the eastern coast of the Dominican Republic, from Cabo Caucedo to Cabo Frances Viejo, were under hurricane warnings.
No fatalities have been recorded in Puerto Rico, but the island is reportedly suffering significant damage from Hurricane Fiona, which made landfall on the island on Sunday afternoon.
The hurricane was still expected to bring torrential rain on Puerto Rico on Monday, but officials in the U.S. territory said it was too early to evaluate the damage. The eastern and southern parts of Puerto Rico were expected to get up to 30 inches.
A meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Juan, Ernesto Morales, said: “It’s vital people recognize that this is not over.”
He claimed that flooding on the island has reached “record levels,” with hundreds of people being evacuated or saved.
The destruction we are witnessing is devastating, according to Governor Pedro Pierluisi.
In the south of Puerto Rico, brown water flooded homes, streets, and even an airport runway.
As Fiona ripped up asphalt from roadways and washed away a bridge in the central mountain town of Utuado that authorities claim was built by the National Guard after Hurricane Maria struck in 2017 as a Category 5 storm, roads were turned into roaring torrents.
Nelson Cirino’s home in the northern seaside hamlet of Loiza had its roof torn off by the storm as well.
He claimed, “I was sleeping and saw when the corrugated metal flew off,” as he watched the rain soak his possession.
In her village of Toa Alta, according to Ada Vivian Román, a 21-year-old photography student, the storm toppled trees and fences.
It’s a fairly slow-moving hurricane, so I’m actually very nervous, she added.
She added that she is concerned about whether the means of public transportation she uses to travel to her job at a public relations firm would still be in service when she needs to return to the office.
There was evidence of the water moving fairly quickly. Up to 30 inches of rain are expected to fall overall, according to forecasters.
However, she acknowledged that she was fortunate compared to other families, some of whom were essentially losing their homes to rising water.
According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, Fiona had a center 50 miles southeast of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and had top sustained winds of 85 mph on Sunday night. It was traveling 9 mph in the northwest.
It occurred on the same day as Hurricane Hugo, a Category 3 storm that struck the island in 1989.
Many people questioned when power would be restored as officials continued to survey the damage caused by Fiona.
Tomás Rivera, a co-owner of a hotel in El Combate, a seaside community in the southwest, stated, “That’s definitely the greatest damage there is.”
Given how poorly the government responded to Hurricane Maria, Rivera said his staff brought bedridden family members to the hotel where he had stocked up on diesel, gasoline, food, water, and ice.
The U.S. territory was put under a state of emergency by President Joe Biden as the storm’s eye got closer to the southwest part of the island. Ports in Puerto Rico have been shut down, and flights out of the main airport have been canceled.
According to the White House, the emergency declaration gives the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) the authority to coordinate disaster relief efforts and offer emergency safety measures.
Officials from the US Energy Department stationed in Puerto Rico, according to US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, will help with restoration efforts “when it becomes safe to do so.” As the Caribbean was inundated by torrential rainfall, Fiona was nearing hurricane strength.
Nearly 3,000 people died in the brutal aftermath of Hurricane Maria as a result of the blackout it produced; power wasn’t restored in some areas for another year. On September 20, 2017, Maria, a destructive Category 5 storm, made landfall.
Once more, the entire island is without electricity, putting its 3.2 million inhabitants completely in the dark for the entire night. Home roofs were torn off by the violent wind, and landslides were also triggered by the torrential rain.
According to the US National Hurricane Centre, Fiona made landfall 15 miles to the south-southeast of Mayaguez with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph. It was traveling at 9 mph toward the northwest.
Power transmission and distribution firm Luma claimed that extreme weather, including 80 mph gusts, had destroyed transmission lines on Sunday, resulting in “a blackout on the entire island.”
Health centers relied on generators, some of which had broken down. Crews hurried to fix the generators at the Comprehensive Cancer Center, where many patients had to be evacuated, according to Health Secretary Carlos Mellado.
More than 3,000 houses still only have blue tarps covering their roofs, while other infrastructure, like the electrical system, is also in poor condition. Reconstruction has just just begun, and outages are still frequent.
Clouds from the storm enveloped the entire island, and gusts with tropical storm force reached 140 miles from Fiona’s center.
On Sunday about 2:00 PM, Governor Pedro Pierluisi tweeted that “the electrical system is temporarily out of service.” In accordance with the strategies developed to deal with this crisis, protocols have been implemented.
Additionally, Pierluisi declared on Sunday that government offices and public schools will be closed on Monday.
He declared, “The damages we are seeing are terrible.”
Power transmission and distribution firm Luma reported that extreme weather, including 80 mph gusts, had broken transmission lines and caused “a blackout over the entire island.”
The statement added that it could take many days to fully restore electricity and warned that the current weather conditions were extremely dangerous and were impeding our ability to assess the entire issue.
The entire electrical system had first been shut down to protect its infrastructure, according to LUMA spokesman Abner Gomez, who spoke during a press conference in the city of San Juan on Sunday night. According to him, attention was being given to hospitals and other vital community services while some electricity was being restored.
At the press conference, Pierluisi declared, “This has been devastating.” As long as the weather permits, we are reacting to the emergency.
Health centers relied on generators, some of which had broken down. At the Comprehensive Cancer Centre, personnel are working to repair generators as soon as possible, according to Health Secretary Carlos Mellado.
“I think all of us Puerto Ricans who experienced Maria have that post-traumatic stress of, “What is going to happen, how long is it going to last, and what needs might we face?”,” said Danny Hernández, who works in the nation’s capital but intended to ride out the storm with his parents and family in the western town of Mayaguez.
He described the mood as depressing as he and others filled up before the storm hit.
We all felt some degree of scarcity after Maria, he remarked.
Cities and villages on Puerto Rico’s southern coast were severely damaged by the storm since they had not yet fully recovered from a series of powerful earthquakes that began in late 2019.
By Sunday night, more than a thousand people and 80 animals had taken refuge on the island, the majority of them along the southern coast.
According to the National Hurricane Center, “These rains may cause mudslides and landslides in parts of higher elevation, along with life-threatening flash flooding and urban flooding across Puerto Rico and the eastern Dominican Republic.”
Mayor of the northern town of Caguas, where at least one significant landslide was reported, with water running down a large slab of shattered asphalt and into a ravine, William Miranda Torres, stated, “I encourage people to stay in their homes.”
Authorities have closed beaches and casinos, opened approximately 80 shelters, and urged locals to take shelter.
With some schools still closed and debris to be cleared, the storm was predicted to wreak havoc on towns and communities along Puerto Rico’s southern coast that are still recuperating from a series of powerful earthquakes that struck the area starting in late 2019.
As a result of trees and minor landslides blocking access, officials also reported multiple road closures across the island.
People boarded up windows and stocked up on food and water prior of the hurricane’s arrival.
Fiona landed just two days before the anniversary of Hurricane Maria, a devastating Category 5 storm that struck on September 20, 2017, damaging the island’s power grid and killing over 3,000 deaths.
Infrastructure is still lacking, and more than 3,000 households still only have a blue tarp covering their roofs.
What we’ve done, he continued, is position ourselves to rely as little as possible on the federal government.
Ana Córdova, 70, who arrived Saturday at a shelter in the north coastal town of Loiza after purchasing tons of food and water, feels the same way.
She said, referring to the government, “I don’t trust them.” “What transpired after Hurricane Maria made me lose trust.”
Denise Rios, who resides in the town of Hormigueros in the southwest, reported losing power as a result of a severe wind gust and rain that started at midday on Sunday.
Since then, she continued, “It hasn’t stopped.” “The wind is blowing furiously, and it is raining heavily.” I’m alert but calm.
The Dominican Republic, northern Haiti, and the Turks and Caicos Islands were all predicted to be hit by Fiona on Monday along with the possibility of significant rainfall. On Tuesday, it might pose a hazard to the extreme southern part of the Bahamas.
The eastern coast of the Dominican Republic, from Cabo Caucedo to Cabo Frances Viejo, was under a hurricane alert.
Fiona earlier tore across the eastern Caribbean, killing one man in Guadeloupe, a French overseas territory, when floodwaters carried away his home in the Basse-Terre area, according to officials.
President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter on Sunday that France would declare Guadeloupe to be in a state of natural disaster.
In addition to damaging roads and uprooting trees, the storm also wrecked at least one bridge.