Numerous families were left trapped in Puerto Rico by Hurricane Fiona, which destroyed roads and bridges and caused catastrophic flooding.
Four days after the hurricane hit the U.S. territory, officials are still having trouble getting to people.
Government officials are currently collaborating with religious organisations, nonprofits, and others to deliver food, water, and medicine to those in need while navigating mudslides, crumbling pavement, and other hazards on foot. However, they are under pressure to open a road soon so that vehicles can reach remote areas.
Fiona, which made landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category 1 hurricane and strengthened to a potent Category 4 hurricane early Thursday as it headed toward Bermuda, cut off areas of at least six municipalities across the island, according to Nino Correa, commissioner for the island’s emergency management agency.
Bermuda was given a hurricane warning by the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.
According to the hurricane centre, Fiona was expected to pass close to Bermuda on Thursday night before making landfall in eastern Canada on Saturday.
On Thursday morning, the storm, which was located approximately 485 miles southwest of Bermuda, had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph. 13 mph was its north-northeast speed.
In Puerto Rico, Manuel Veguilla lives in one of the isolated locations. Since Fiona stormed in on Sunday, he hasn’t been able to leave his neighbourhood in the north highland town of Caguas.
He said, “We’re all alone,” and expressed concern for his elderly neighbours, particularly his older brother, who lacks the stamina to make the far-off community’s short trek.
Veguilla had heard that city authorities may open a route on Thursday, but he didn’t think it would happen since a neighbouring bridge and the 10-foot area below it were both covered with huge boulders.
He stated that on Wednesday, the son of an old lady was able to return with minimal supplies on foot. Neighbors have shared food and water left by charitable organisations.
Veguilla said that he and others used picks and shovels to clean the wreckage in the wake of Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 hurricane that slammed five years ago and left over 3,000 people dead. Fiona, on the other hand, caused enormous landslides.
He answered, “I can’t just chuck those pebbles over my shoulder.”
Veguilla had no access to power or water following Fiona, like hundreds of thousands of other Puerto Ricans, but claimed that a natural water source was close by.
When Fiona struck the southwest of Puerto Rico, which was already struggling to recover after a string of powerful earthquakes in recent years, it caused an island-wide blackout. Three days after the storm on Wednesday, when the National Weather Service had issued an excessive heat advisory, over 70% of the 1.47 million consumers were still without electricity. More than 500,000 households and businesses, or around 40%, lacked water service.
Since the federal government authorised a major disaster declaration and declared a public health emergency on the island, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency has sent hundreds of extra workers to assist local authorities.
While Puerto Rico continues to recover from the hurricane, which dumped up to 30 inches of rain in some parts, neither local nor federal government authorities have offered any estimates of the storm’s damage. Over a thousand individuals were still staying in shelters.
Brad Kieserman, the Red Cross’ vice president of operations and logistics, stated, “Our hearts go out to the people of Puerto Rico who have undergone so much hardship over the previous couple of years.
Following Puerto Rico, Fiona devastated the Dominican Republic before making landfall on the Turks & Caicos Islands as a Category 4 hurricane. Although the storm’s eye came quite near to Grand Turk, the tiny British territory’s capital island, on Tuesday, officials there reported comparatively little damage and no fatalities.
Deputy Governor Anya Williams remarked, “God has been nice to us and has kept us safe throughout this era when we might have had a lot worse result.”