Hurricane Fiona: 1,000 rescued as storm cripples Puerto Rico with flooding and energy outages earlier than slamming the Dominican Republic

September 19, 2022

With intense rain anticipated to maintain producing mudslides and catastrophic flooding, about 1,000 individuals in Puerto Rico had been rescued by noon Monday by emergency crews, stated Maj. Gen. José Reyes, the Puerto Rico Nationwide Guard’s adjutant basic.

100 first responders from New York will head to the US territory to assist as quickly as climate permits, Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi stated, including governors of New Jersey and California have additionally pledged to ship assist.

Fiona made landfall Monday morning within the Dominican Republic after crossing onto land a day earlier in southwestern Puerto Rico.

One space north of the town of Ponce reported over 2 toes of rain in 24 hours.

A house is deluged Sunday in Cayey, Puerto Rico. Three people inside the home were reportedly rescued.

Rescues had been underway Monday within the western Puerto Rican municipalities of Mayaguez and Hormigueros, officers stated. The Guanajibo River in Hormigueros surpassed its earlier report top set throughout Maria.

In the meantime, southern Puerto Rico can anticipate one other 4 to six inches of rain or extra early this week — which means Fiona will depart the island deluged with 12 to 30 inches of rain, the Miami-based Nationwide Hurricane Middle stated.

“These rainfall quantities will proceed to provide life-threatening and catastrophic flooding together with mudslides and landslides throughout Puerto Rico,” the hurricane middle stated.

Fiona has already turned lethal within the Caribbean. At the very least one demise was reported within the heavily-damaged city of Basse-Terre, the capitol of the French territory of Guadeloupe, the vice chairman of the territory’s environmental company stated.
And Fiona might develop into a serious hurricane by Wednesday, with winds reaching 111 mph. That will make Fiona the primary main hurricane of the yr within the Atlantic, the Nationwide Hurricane Middle stated.

Huge energy outages cripple Puerto Rico

Greater than 1.4 million Puerto Rico energy clients — similar to properties and companies — have misplaced electrical energy, officers stated. The whole island was at the hours of darkness early Monday, PowerOutage.us reported.

And it may very well be days earlier than energy is restored, the principle energy utility in Puerto Rico stated Sunday, as every day excessive temperatures after Monday are forecast to succeed in the mid-80s to 90s.

A number of transmission line outages contributing to the blackout, LUMA Power stated. Energy will likely be restored “steadily,” Pierluisi stated in a Fb publish.

Hurricane evacuees take refuge at a public school in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico.

By late Monday morning, a bit of excellent information from island’s capital: The facility system got here again up for hospitals in San Juan’s medical complicated, Puerto Rico Well being Secretary Dr. Carlos Mellado López stated. The complicated is the island’s most necessary and stretches throughout 227 acres, in keeping with the Well being Administration of Puerto Rico.

“The facility system in any respect the hospitals within the Medical Middle Advanced has been restored,” Mellado tweeted Sunday night time. “Our sufferers are protected and receiving the medical care they want.”

Fiona’s newest path

Intense rainfall will proceed producing mudslides, landslides and catastrophic flooding throughout Puerto Rico via Monday night time, the Nationwide Hurricane Middle stated.

Fiona could intensify as it moves across the Atlantic Ocean.

The hurricane slammed the Dominican Republic neighborhood of Boca de Yuma early Monday, whipping most sustained winds of 90 mph, the Nationwide Hurricane Middle stated.

Life-threatening flash flooding and concrete flooding is forecast for japanese parts of the Dominican Republic via early Tuesday, the hurricane middle stated.

Fiona might additionally dump 12 inches of rain in japanese and northern components of the nation.

As Fiona strikes away from the Dominican Republic’s northern coast, it is anticipated to accentuate because it strikes north over heat water.

Tropical storm situations are anticipated within the southeastern Bahamas by late Monday or early Tuesday, and Fiona is predicted to influence the japanese Turks and Caicos on Tuesday morning.

“Fiona will proceed turning northward after which northeastward this week, nearing Bermuda on Friday as a serious hurricane,” CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller stated.

One more widespread calamity

Energy outages have develop into a well-known disaster for a lot of who dwell in Puerto Rico. Simply 5 months in the past, residents suffered one other islandwide blackout after a hearth broke out in an influence plant.
Some components of the island nonetheless bear the scars of Maria, which inflicted catastrophic infrastructure harm; it took nearly a yr for energy to be restored throughout the island.
Hurricane Fiona causes 'catastrophic' flooding in Puerto Rico

Samuel Rivera and his mom Lourdes Rodriguez lived with out energy for a couple of yr after Maria, Rivera instructed CNN. On Sunday morning, they misplaced energy as soon as once more, conjuring up comparable fears to these that they had 5 years in the past.

They had been additionally involved a close-by river would possibly overflow and bushes surrounding their dwelling may very well be felled by the highly effective winds, they stated.

Speeding waters simply wiped away a bridge, carrying its construction downstream, one video of the harmful flooding reveals. Elsewhere within the metropolis of Arecibo, shortly transferring waters overtook massive building autos and full bushes as rain fell in sheets, one other video by Samuel De Jesús reveals.

Many rivers on the japanese facet of the island had been at average to main flood levels Sunday afternoon, together with one southeastern river which rose over 12 toes in lower than seven hours.

2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season Fast Facts

US President Joe Biden early Sunday accredited an emergency declaration to offer federal help to catastrophe reduction efforts.

Greater than 300 FEMA emergency employees had been on the bottom to answer the disaster, stated Anne Bink, FEMA’s affiliate administrator for Response and Restoration.

“Our coronary heart goes out to the residents that once more are going via one other catastrophic occasion 5 years later,” Bink stated, nodding to Maria. This time, she stated, FEMA plans to implement classes realized from the 2017 disaster.

“We had been way more ready. We’ve 4 warehouses now strategically positioned all through the island, which incorporates commodities, exponentially bigger provides than prior to now,” Bink stated.

“We’re proactively there — and nicely forward of any storm hitting — to be sure that we’re coordinating. And all the planning efforts we undertake throughout these blue skies days could be delivered to bear when the rain falls.”

CNN’s Leyla Santiago in San Juan, Puerto Rico; CNN meteorologists Brandon Miller and Haley Brink; and CNN’s Paul P. Murphy, Jamiel Lynch, Alfonso Serrano, Caitlin Kaiser, Allie Malloy and Dakin Andone contributed to this report.

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