Hurricane Fiona left most of Puerto Rico without power on Sunday, causing catastrophic flooding and landslides on the island before barreling toward the Dominican Republic.
The storm, hitting Puerto Rico five years after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, ripped up asphalt from roads, swept away a major road bridge, closed airports, swamped cars and dumped rain in such quantities that some rivers were rising 6m in just hours, according to eyewitnesses.
“This has been catastrophic,” Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi said.
Carmen Yulín Cruz, the former mayor of San Juan, said on Twitter that many believed the rainfall was worse than Hurricane Maria in 2017.
The centre of the storm made landfall on the south-western coast of Puerto Rico near Punta Tocon with maximum sustained winds of about 140 kmh, clearing the threshold for a Category 1 hurricane, the National Hurricane Centre said.
Power was already being restored in some areas by Sunday night, officials said, but reconnecting the whole island would take days.
Electricity had been out completely across the island of 3.3 million people, said Luma Energy, operator of the island’s grid, and the Puerto Rico power authority.
Puerto Rico’s grid remains fragile after Hurricane Maria in September 2017 caused the largest blackout in US history. In that Category 5 storm, which killed more than 3,000 people, 1.5 million customers lost electricity with 80 percent of power lines knocked out.
Thousands of Puerto Ricans still live under makeshift tarpaulin roofs. At a news conference in the capital San Juan on Sunday night, Luma spokesperson Abner Gomez said the entire electrical system was shut down to protect its infrastructure.
Some power was being restored, with priority given to hospitals and other critical community services, he said.
Several landslides have been reported. Roads were closed, and a highway bridge in Utuado, a town in the centre of the island, was washed away by a flooding river.
Puerto Rico’s ports were closed and flights out of the main airport canceled.
Torrential rains and mudslides were also forecast for the Dominican Republic. as the storm progresses northwestward, with the Turks and Caicos Islands likely facing tropical storm conditions on Tuesday, the NHC said.
By Sunday night, aid agencies in the Dominican Republic began evacuating residents from high-risk areas in the east of the country.
President Luis Abinader, the Dominican leader, postponed a trip to New York to participate in the United Nations General Assembly, while the start of the Dominican school year was pushed back to Wednesday from Monday.
US President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Puerto Rico on Sunday, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief and provide emergency protective measures.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES