CNN
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Hurricane Fiona made landfall alongside the excessive southwestern coast of Puerto Rico, close to Punta Tocon, at 3:20 p.m. ET Sunday with winds of 85 mph, in keeping with the National Hurricane Center.
The hurricane is already causing catastrophic flooding as it strikes simply west of Puerto Rico and heads for the Dominican Republic, the heart mentioned in a 5 p.m. replace.
The hurricane heart is forecasting 12-18 inches of rainfall with a neighborhood most of 30 inches, notably throughout jap and southern Puerto Rico. Nearby in the norther and jap components of the Dominican Republic, 4-8 inches of rainfall is anticipated, with a neighborhood most of 12 inches doable alongside the northeast coast.
“These rains will produce life-threatening and catastrophic flash and urban flooding across Puerto Rico and the eastern Dominican Republic, along with mudslides and landslides in areas of higher terrain,” the hurricane heart mentioned.
A flash flood emergency was issued for Sector San Felipe and Mosquito in Salinas County Sunday night time as heavy rainfall pounded the area, the place 10-15 inches of rain have already fallen, and one other 2-4 inches are doable, in keeping with the National Weather Service.
The heavy rainfall in Salinas County has already led to a number of swift water rescues, and the Weather Service is urging folks to “move to higher ground now. Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order.”
All of Puerto Rico misplaced power earlier Sunday, according to PowerOutage.us, as the Category 1 storm approached the islands.
Many rivers on the jap aspect of the territory are in average to main flood stage. One river in the southeast has risen over 12 ft in lower than seven hours and is now over 25 ft, breaking the earlier file of 24.79 ft set in 2017 throughout Hurricane Maria.
Hurricane Fiona is the third of the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season and forecast to change into a significant hurricane – a storm of Category 3 or larger – in about 48 hours, east of the Bahamas.
Tropical storm circumstances are anticipated to achieve parts of the Dominican Republic inside the subsequent few hours after which in the Turks and Caicos Islands and parts of the southeastern Bahamas by early Tuesday.
The authorities of the Bahamas issued a tropical storm warning for the Turks and Caicos and for the Southeastern Bahamas, together with the Acklins, Crooked Island, Long Cay, the Inaguas, Mayaguana and the Ragged Islands.
The storm’s impacts have already been felt: At least one dying has been reported in Basse-Terre in the French territory of Guadeloupe, according to the vice president of the territory’s environmental company, who mentioned the capital had been devastated by flooding.
Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi confirmed the territory-wide outage in a tweet, noting the complete electrical system was out of service and officers have activated the correct protocols to work to revive power.
The Authority of Electric Energy and LUMA Energy, which operates Puerto Rico’s power grid, proceed to work on the islandwide power outage affecting practically 1.5 million prospects, in keeping with Pierluisi.
The blackout – which adopted hours of progressively worsening power outages – comes 5 years after Puerto Rico’s power grid was devastated by Hurricane Maria in September 2017, leaving many residents without electrical energy for months.
But officers have pressured it received’t be like final time: Not lengthy earlier than the lights went out, Abner Gomez, head of public security and disaster administration at LUMA Energy, mentioned utility authorities plan to restore and restore electrical energy with the assist of native authorities businesses. “This is not Maria, this hurricane will not be Maria,” Gomez mentioned.
President Joe Biden on Sunday morning permitted an emergency declaration for Puerto Rico, releasing up federal sources, together with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for emergency response and catastrophe aid efforts.
There are greater than 300 FEMA responders on the floor working “hand and glove” with the Commonwealth and their emergency administration construction, Anne Bink, FEMA’s Assistant Administrator for Response and Recovery, advised CNN Sunday.
“Our heart goes out to the residents that are again going through another catastrophic event five years later,” Bink mentioned, noting Fiona has hit near Hurricane Maria’s five-year anniversary.
Bink mentioned FEMA’s response is twin targeted, together with emergency era and power missions for important services and guaranteeing command and management construction is in place for issues like search and rescue, emergency power generations and long-term wants as soon as the island strikes into restoration.
Fiona’s winds are anticipated to extend alongside the fast shoreline, whereas circumstances are forecast to deteriorate all through Sunday afternoon and night, in keeping with the National Weather Service’s workplace in San Juan.
Already, authorities have responded to 1 landslide: Emergency officers responded Saturday night to a landslide round 8 p.m. ET at an condo complicated in Guaynabo, according to fire and public safety officials. There have been no preliminary studies of accidents.
Around 120 shelters with 25,000 cots have been opened for these in want, the governor mentioned. Classes Monday have been canceled and authorities employees – save emergency employees – ought to keep dwelling, too.
A hurricane warning – indicating hurricane circumstances are anticipated – was issued for Puerto Rico, together with the islands of Vieques and Culebra, and later expanded to incorporate the jap Dominican Republic from Cabo Caucedo to Cabo Frances Viejo. The Dominican Republic’s northern coast, from Cabo Frances Viejo west to Puerto Plata, have been underneath a hurricane watch Sunday morning, which means hurricane circumstances are doable in the subsequent 48 hours.
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