All of Puerto Rico loses power as Hurricane Fiona makes landfall
Hurricane Fiona wiped out power for the entire island of Puerto Rico shortly before making landfall Sunday afternoon, pounding the islands with rain and unleashing “catastrophic” floods.
Fiona, which was upgraded to a Category 1 storm Sunday morning, hit the coast near Punta Tocon around 3:20 p.m. with winds swirling at 85 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Fiona’s clouds blanketed the entire U.S. territory on Sunday.
A worker of the Loiza municipality calls on residents to evacuate due to imminent flooding due to the rains of Hurricane Fiona, in Loiza, Puerto Rico, Sunday, September 18, 2022. (Alejandro Granadillo/)
At least one person has been reported dead in Basse-Terre in the French territory of Guadeloupe, which has seen massive flooding, according to the region’s environmental agency. The man was found dead after his house was swept away by heavy rainfall, as much as 19 inches, and flooding.
More than 1.5 million customers were without electricity, Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi announced on Facebook Sunday afternoon, though at least one hospital system had restored power using generators, secretary of health Dr. Carlos Mellado Lopez said on Facebook.
“The damages that we are seeing are catastrophic,” Pierluisi said.
In the northern town of Caguas, at least one reported landslide sent water rushing down a big slab of broken asphalt and into a gully.
“I urge people to stay in their homes,” said William Miranda Torres, mayor of the inundated town.
In the central mountain town of Utuado, the storm undid repair work from 2017′s Hurricane Maria, washing away a bridge that the National Guard had installed in the wake of that storm.
A road is flooded by the rains of Hurricane Fiona in Cayey, Puerto Rico, Sunday, September 18, 2022. (Stephanie Rojas/)
On Sunday, it was centered 10 miles west of Mayaguez, carrying 85 mph sustained maximum winds, and traveling northwest at 9 mph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Fiona was expected to continue traveling west-northwest before turning toward the Dominican Republic by Monday and approaching the Turks and Caicos Islands on Tuesday.
As of 8 p.m. Sunday, it was clear the Dominican Republic was next in its sights, the National Hurricane Center said.
“Center of Fiona heading for the eastern Dominican Republic,” the NHC said. “Heavy rainfall and catastrophic flooding continues across much of Puerto Rico.”
Fiona was expected to gather strength as it traveled toward the Dominican Republic and become a category 2 hurricane before hitting landfall there on Monday.
The country’s north coast from Cabo Frances Viejo westward to Puerto Plata were under hurricane watch, with Puerto Rico, including the islands Vieques and Culebra, under hurricane warning as was the Dominican Republic coast from Cabo Caucedo to Cabo Frances Viejo, the NHC said.
With hurricane-force winds extending outward for up to 30 miles from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds extending 140 miles, winds and rain were expected to reach the Dominican Republic Sunday night ahead of the hurricane itself, the center said.
Fiona was still not done ravaging Puerto Rico on Sunday night.
“Hurricane conditions are occurring on portions of Puerto Rico, and are expected in portions of the eastern Dominican Republic tonight and Monday,” the National Hurricane Center said. “Hurricane conditions are possible within the hurricane watch area in the Dominican Republic late tonight and Monday.”
After that the storm is likely to veer east into the Atlantic Ocean enough that it should avoid the coast of the mainland U.S, although high surf and rip tides are still possible.
Fiona has been upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane.
Fiona could drop as much as 12 to 16 inches of rain across the region, with up to 25 inches across eastern and southern Puerto Rico, according to the NHC. The rain will bring life-threatening flash flooding, mudslides, landslides, storm surges up to 3 feet and life-threatening surf and rip current conditions. Forecasters said some areas could receive up to 30 inches.
The Leeward Islands could see 2 inches of rain, 4 to 6 inches in the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, 4 to 8 inches in northern and eastern Dominican Republic, 1 to 3 inches in Haiti and 3 to 6 inches in Turks and Caicos.
A hurricane warning is in place for Puerto Rico, including the islands of Vieques and Culebra, and the coast of the Dominican Republic from Cabo Caucedo to Cabo Frances Viejo. The U.S. Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands and the north coast of the Dominican Republic from Cabo Frances Viejo westward to Puerto Plata are under a tropical storm warning.
President Biden declared a state of emergency for Puerto Rico Sunday morning, opening up federal resources, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for emergency response and disaster relief efforts.
A river swollen with rain caused by Hurricane Fiona speeds through Cayey, Puerto Rico, Sunday, September 18, 2022. (Stephanie Rojas/)
Public schools in Puerto Rico will be shut Monday, and Pierluisi urged people in flood zones to evacuate.
Fiona approaches the region almost exactly five years after Hurricane Maria battered Puerto Rico and the northeast Caribbean as a Category 4 storm. More than 3,000 people died, almost all in Puerto Rico. Four people also died in the United States, including three swimmers who drowned off the Jersey Shore.
Puerto Rico was last hit by Tropical Storm Peter in September 2021 and Tropical Storm Fred a month earlier.
Fiona is the third hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic Ocean season, following Danielle and Earl. It hit Puerto Rico on the 33rd anniversary of devastating Hurricane Hugo, a Category 3 storm.
With News Wire Services
