Death toll from Hurricane Fiona rises to 16 in Puerto Rico

Hurricane Fiona has killed at least 16 people in Puerto Rico, authorities said late Saturday.

The island is still digging out from the massive storm, which crashed ashore Sept. 18 and left thousands of people without electricity or running water. The death toll could increase as emergency personnel gain access to the hardest-hit areas.

Puerto Rico’s government said that of the 16 deaths, one had been classified as a “direct” result of the storm, three were labeled “indirect” and the remaining 12 were under investigation, according to the Miami Herald.

Homes are flooded on Salinas Beach after the passing of Hurricane Fiona in Salinas, Puerto Rico on Monday. (Alejandro Granadillo/)

Previously, Puerto Rican authorities had only confirmed two deaths from the storm.

Fiona also killed at least two people in the Dominican Republic and one person on Guadeloupe. The storm made landfall in eastern Canada on Saturday morning. No deaths have been reported in Canada so far.

Fiona struck Puerto Rico five years after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. Maria killed nearly 3,000 people in Puerto Rico alone.

President Biden said the federal government would cover the entire cost of the Fiona recovery effort.

“To the people of Puerto Rico who are still hurting from Hurricane Maria five years later, they should know that we are with you,” Biden said Thursday. “We’re not going to walk away. I mean it.”