Fiona made landfall Monday morning in the Dominican Republic after crossing onto land a day earlier in southwestern Puerto Rico.
One space north of town of Ponce reported over 2 ft of rain in the final 24 hours. And southern Puerto Rico can anticipate one other 4 to six inches of rain or extra early this week — that means Fiona will depart the island deluged with 12 to 30 inches of rain, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center stated.
“These rainfall amounts will continue to produce life-threatening and catastrophic flooding along with mudslides and landslides across Puerto Rico,” the hurricane heart stated.
Massive power outages cripple Puerto Rico
And it might be days earlier than power is restored, the primary power utility in Puerto Rico stated Sunday, as every day excessive temperatures after Monday are forecast to achieve the mid-80s to 90s.
Several transmission line outages contributing to the blackout, LUMA Energy stated. Power will probably be restored “gradually,” Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi stated in a Facebook put up.
By late Monday morning, a bit of excellent news from island’s capital: The power system got here again up for hospitals in San Juan’s medical advanced, Puerto Rico Health Secretary Dr. Carlos Mellado López stated. The advanced is the island’s most necessary and stretches throughout 227 acres, in response to the Health Administration of Puerto Rico.
“The power system at all the hospitals in the Medical Center Complex has been restored,” Mellado tweeted Sunday evening. “Our patients are safe and receiving the medical care they need.”
Fiona’s newest path
The hurricane slammed the group of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic, early Monday, whipping most sustained winds of 90 mph, the National Hurricane Center stated.
Eastern elements of the Dominican Republic may additionally see flooding, mudslides or landslides, the hurricane heart stated. Fiona may dump 12 inches of rain in japanese and northern elements of the nation.
As Fiona heads away from the northern coast of the Dominican Republic, extra important strengthening is anticipated as it strikes northward over heat water.
Tropical storm situations are anticipated in the southeastern Bahamas by late Monday or early Tuesday, and Fiona is anticipated to impression the japanese Turks and Caicos on Tuesday morning.
“Fiona will continue turning northward and then northeastward this week, nearing Bermuda on Friday as a major hurricane,” CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller stated.
Yet one other widespread calamity
Samuel Rivera and his mom Lourdes Rodriguez lived without power for a couple of 12 months after Maria, Rivera instructed CNN’s Layla Santiago. On Sunday morning, they misplaced power as soon as once more, conjuring up comparable fears to these that they had 5 years in the past.
They have been additionally involved a close-by river would possibly overflow and bushes surrounding their dwelling might be felled by the highly effective winds, they stated.
Many rivers on the japanese aspect of the island have been at average to main flood phases Sunday afternoon, together with one southeastern river which rose over 12 ft in lower than seven hours.
US President Joe Biden early Sunday permitted an emergency declaration to supply federal help to catastrophe reduction efforts.
More than 300 FEMA emergency staff have been on the bottom to reply to the disaster, stated Anne Bink, FEMA’s affiliate administrator for Response and Recovery.
“Our heart goes out to the residents that again are going through another catastrophic event five years later,” Bink stated, nodding to Maria. This time, she stated, FEMA plans to implement classes discovered from the 2017 disaster.
“We were much more prepared. We have four warehouses now strategically located throughout the island, which includes commodities, exponentially larger supplies than in the past,” Bink stated.
“We’re proactively there — and well ahead of any storm hitting — to make sure that we are coordinating. And all of the planning efforts we undertake during those blue skies days can be brought to bear when the rain falls.”
CNN’s Leyla Santiago, Jamiel Lynch, Alfonso Serrano, Caitlin Kaiser, Allie Malloy, Dakin Andone and Haley Brink contributed to this report.