Hurricane Fiona - news: Storm landfall in Dominican Republic as 1,000 stranded and power out in Puerto Rico
Officials say it could take several days for full power resoration - follow for the latest updates
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More than a million residents of Puerto Rico are without power as Hurricane Fiona departed the US island territory and continued on a path to the Dominican Republic.
Wind speeds of 85mph and “historic” rains were felt as the tropical storm made landfall on Puerto Rico’s eastern shores on Sunday, where many rivers are now heavily flooded and at least one road bridge was swept away.
As of Monday morning, more than 1.3 million homes were still without power as conditions remained too dangerous for repairs across large swaths of the island. Power company LUMA warned that it could take several days for full power resoration.
The storm made landfall early Monday in the Dominican Republic and is on track to brush past the southeast Bahamas, as well as Turks and Caicos into Tuesday.
Overnight, US President Joe Biden issued an emergency disaster declaration to speed-up the relief process for the island, which was days away from marking the fifth anniversary of another powerful hurricane that caused thousands of deaths and the collapse of vital energy infrastructure in 2017.
Rush to protect life and property
Here’s a closer look at the NHC’s most recent update about Hurricane Fiona.
“Hurricane conditions are occurring on portions of Puerto Rico, and are expected in portions of the eastern Dominican Republic tonight and Monday,” said the agency on Sunday evening, adding that (less intense) “tropical storm conditions” would reach parts of the Republic “within the next few hours”.
What does that look like on the ground? The NHC warns of a combination of “storm surge” and high tides that will cause normally dry areas near the shoreline to be flooded by rising waters.
Similar conditions are expected in the Dominican Republic, which could see waters rising to 3 ft above usual high ride marks.
“Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,” the NHC said.
All flights to the US Virgin Islands cancelled
For obvious reasons, travel across the Caribbean is highly disrupted. All flights in the US Virgin Islands on Sunday have been cancelled, according to TravelPulse, while the US Coast Guard closed down all the islands’ sea ports.
The US Virgin Islands are about 67 miles east of Puerto Rico, and have been seeing sustained wind speeds of 45mph with gusts of up to 75mph, and expcted rainfall of up to six inches.
That’s nothing to what Puerto Rico is seeing right now: forecasters have said the island could see up to 30 inches of rain and maximum sustained winds of nearly 85mph.
Fiona is now halfway to Dominican Republic
The eye of Hurricane Fiona is now roughly 40 miles west of Puerto Rico, about halfway between the US territory and the Dominican Republic, US officials say.
In its latest bulletin tonight, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that “heavy rainfall and catastrophic flooding continues across much of Puerto Rico”.
The storm’s current maximum sustained windspeed is 85mph, with higher gusts, and that’s expected to strengthen. Hurricane-force winds extend to about 30 miles beyond the eye, and tropical-storm-force extend to 140 miles.
That now puts Puerto Rico outside the worst of the winds, with the Dominican Republic now squarely in Fiona’s crosshairs.
Evacuations begin in Dominican Republic
Aid agencies in the Dominican Republic have begun evacuating residents from high-risk areas in the east of the country, according to Reuters.
President Luis Abinader delayed his trip to the UN General Assemvly in New York, while the start of the school year was pushed back from Monday to Wednesday.
Puerto Rico resident Denise Rios, who lives in the southwestern town of Hormigueros, told Reuters that she had lost power to her home around noon when rain and strong gusts began to hit.
"Since then it hasn't stopped," she said. "It is raining heavily and the wind is blowing hard. I'm calm, but alert."
Videos show flooded streets and airport runway
Here’s some footage of how the hurricane is affecting Puerto Rico via Antilles-based photographer Gérald Deliscar-Jourdan.
One clip shows a runway at Mercedita International Airport near Ponce on the island’s south coast completely flooded, while another shows a town street submerged in what looks up 2-3 ft of water.
This video, from San Juan radio stationWKAQ 580, muddy flood waters rushing underneath a bridge somewhere in Puerto Rico.
Hurricane Fiona seen from space
The US National Weather Service has released awe-inspiring satellite footage of Hurricane Fiona passing over Puerto Rico.
The video clip was assembled from numerous snapshots taken by the US government’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) system, which consists of four satellites in permanent orbit at fixed points over the equator.
Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands now under hurricane warnings
The eye of Fiona is now nearing the Dominican Republic and on track to sweep across the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).
In a bulletin about one hour ago, the NHC put Fiona's centre about 45 miles south southeast of Punta Cana in the Republic, moving west northwest at about 10mph.
The governments of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands upgraded their tropical storm warnings to hurricane warnings as Fiona was expected to swing towards the north.
"Tropical storm and hurricane conditions are occurring on portions of Puerto Rico and will likely continue until Monday morning. Hurricane conditions are expected in portions of the eastern Dominican Republic later tonight and Monday, and in the Turks and Caicos on Tuesday," the NHC said.
Hurricane Fiona knocks out power grid in Puerto Rico
Hurricane Fiona struck Puerto Rico’s southwest coast yesterday and knocked the power grid out.
Luma, the company that operates power transmission and distribution, said bad weather, including winds of 80mph, had disrupted transmission lines, leading to “a blackout on all the island.”
At a press conference in the capital San Juan, Luma spokesperson Abner Gomez said the entire electrical system had first been shut down to protect its infrastructure. Some power was being restored with priority being given to hospitals and other critical community services, he said.
“Current weather conditions are extremely dangerous and are hindering our capacity to evaluate the complete situation,” it said, adding that it could take several days to fully restore power.
Health centres were running on generators — and some of those had failed. Health secretary Carlos Mellado said crews rushed to repair generators at the Comprehensive Cancer Center, where several patients had to be evacuated.
Joe Biden approves emergency declaration to help disaster relief
US president Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Puerto Rico on yesterday, a move that authorises the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) to coordinate disaster relief and provide emergency protective measures.
US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm said agency officials deployed to Puerto Rico will assist with restoration efforts “as it becomes safe to do so.”
More than 300 Fema responders are working with the emergency management structure of the island, said Anne Bink, Fema’s assistant administrator for response and recovery.
“Our heart goes out to the residents that are again going through another catastrophic event five years later,” she told CNN as she noted Fiona has hit close to five- year anniversary of Hurricane Maria.
She said that the response is focused on the emergency generation and power missions for critical facilities as well as ensuring that a command and control structure is in place for search and rescue missions.
Fiona nears Dominican Republic after pounding Puerto Rico
Hurricane Fiona bore down on the Dominican Republic today after knocking out the power grid and unleashing floods and landslides in Puerto Rico, where the governor said the damage was “catastrophic.”
No deaths have been reported, but authorities in the US territory said it was too early to estimate the damage from a storm that was still forecast to unleash torrential rain across Puerto Rico.
Up to 30inches (76cm) was forecast for Puerto Rico’s eastern and southern regions.
“It’s important people understand that this is not over,” said Ernesto Morales, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Juan.
He said flooding has reached “historic levels,” with authorities evacuating or rescuing hundreds of people across the island.
Read the details here:
Fiona nears Dominican Republic after pounding Puerto Rico
Hurricane Fiona is bearing down on the Dominican Republic after knocking out the power grid and unleashing floods and landslides in Puerto Rico, where the governor said the damage was “catastrophic.”
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