Hurricane Ernesto hits Puerto Rico with heavy rain and flooding

Hurricane Ernesto is moving away from Puerto Rico, where schools and offices shut down Wednesday, after the Caribbean island was hit with torrential rain and flooding.

Ernesto was set to pass north of the U.S. territory, but authorities still expect widespread disruption, power outages and heavy rainfall. The Puerto Rican government said that there were 344 shelters available and that public transport is suspended.

This is now the third hurricane of this year's hurricane season.

The National Hurricane Center said Wednesday that the storm was at sustained wind speeds of 75 mph. It warned that "significant" flooding is to be expected across Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.

By Wednesday afternoon, it began moving away from the island, but it was still under a flash flood watch until Thursday. The island was already slammed with 5 to 10 inches of rain by 2 p.m. E.T., with more anticipated until the hurricane clears the region.

Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi urged people to be indoors by Tuesday evening as forecasts warned that as much as 10 inches of rain could hit the southeast of the island, with possible landslides and widespread flooding.

Officials also anticipated widespread outages as the island's electrical system has never fully recovered from the devastation of 2017's Hurricane Maria. More than 740,000 people were without power by Wednesday at 2:30 p.m., as reported by the Puerto Rico Emergency Portal System.

“I’m hoping it will go away quickly,” José Rodríguez, 36, told The Associated Press as he climbed on the roof of his uncle’s wooden shack in the Afro Caribbean community of Piñones on Puerto Rico’s north coast to secure the family’s fried street food business.

"We are particularly warning tourists and our own population to stay away from the ocean. Ocean conditions particularly in the north and the eastern part of Puerto Rico are going to be very dangerous," the governor said.

A hurricane watch is in place for the British Virgin Islands, while a tropical storm watch is in effect for the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Vieques and Culebra — all of which are popular with tourists.

The hurricane is expected to approach Bermuda on Saturday and could potentially strengthen in the next two days before it hits, according to the NHC. Rainfall from the storm system may hit Bermuda as early as Thursday.

Dramatic video posted to social media showed the moment sailors were rescued from a stranded tugboat off the island of Sint Maarten, as it was blasted by high winds and heavy rain Tuesday.

Ernesto is the fifth named storm of what has already been an exceptionally busy hurricane season.