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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Your support makes all the difference.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.
‘More than 1.4 million people left without power’ in Puerto Rico
More than 1.4 million were left without power in Puerto Rico as Hurricane Fiona knocked out power grids, reported CNN.
The hurricane continues to pummel Puerto Rico and eastern portions of the Dominican Republic, with the country preparing itself for mudslides and landslides, following a warning from the National Weather Service.
According to the website, PowerOutage.us, the entire island was without power, early Monday morning, with comments from Luma that it has “reenergized some circuits, however there is limited information, and no numbers on how many customers have been restored.”
San Jose group sending relief to Puerto Rico
A San Jose group has decided to send help to Puerto Rico as more than a million residents struggle to survive amid power outages and floods.
Known as the Puerto Rican Civic Club of San Jose, the group is collecting donations to provide gas generators and solar lights to hospitals, orphanages and shelters in the hurricane-hit island nation, reported NBC News.
“Everything is flooded. All the rivers are completely floated, everything is completely destroyed once again,” said the president of the club Maria Acevedo.
Kathryn Ramos, another member of the group, says providing power to keep the refrigerators running is critical. “A lot of elderly people are in situations where they can’t keep their insulin cold. And it is causing them to get sick.
“And the issues that stem around that is ultimately you have a lot of people die.
Joe Biden approves diaster declaration
A disaster declaration for Puerto Rico was approved by US President Joe Biden on Sunday, the White House said.
The move will make more federal resources available for the island territory as it recovers from the weekend’s extreme weather event.
Democrat calls for action on infrastructure and climate change
Karen Green, the Democratic nominee for Florida’s US House District, called for better disaster response capabilities in her home state and across the United States in the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona.
Saying that Americans increasingly need infrastructure that can withstand extreme weather events, Ms Greened added that it was also “because of disasters such as Hurrican Fiona that we need to combat climate change”.
While the weekend hurricane cannot solely be linked to a warming climate, such events are more likely.
Hospitals running on generators, some failed
Hospitals and health centres across Puerto Rico were running on generators on Sunday and Monday morning as authorities and the public still processed the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona.
According to reports from the territory, some of those power generators had failed as electricity was restored slowly to the island of roughly 3 million people.
Health Secretary Carlos Mellado said crews rushed to repair generators at the Comprehensive Cancer Center, where several patients had to be evacuated to antother facility, according to the Associated Press.
Fiona destroys bridge rebuilt after 2017 hurricane
A metal bridge in Puerto Rico that was built in the aftermath of 2017’s devastating Hurricane Maria has been ripped away again by Hurricane Fiona.
Videos shared by reporters, bystanders and local politicians showed the bridge on Puerto Rico Highway 123 in the town of Utuado being torn out of its moorings and washed downriver by surging flood waters.
Some videos showed metal railings on the side of the road, attached to the bridge, pulled out of the ground and dragged along with it.
Io Dodds reports:
Video shows bridge in Puerto Rico being ripped away as Hurricane Fiona brings floods
Metal structure was erected in 2018 to replace bridge destroyed by 2017’s Hurricane Maria
Fiona makes landfall in Dominican Republic
Hurricane Fiona made landfall on the eastern shore of the Domican Republic early Monday morning after lashing Puerto Rico with up to 30 inches of rain.
The island nation is bracing for strong winds and heavy rains throughout Monday before brushing past the southeast Bahamas, as well as Turks and Caicos into Tuesday.
As it continues its path, Fiona could pose a significant threat to Bermuda and may sweep into parts of Atlantic Canada later this week. It is not expected to track near the US East Coast.
More than 1.3m Puerto Ricans still without power
Fears are mounting that millions of Puerto Ricans could be without power for days to come in the wake of Hurricane Fiona.
As of Monday morning, more than 1.3 million homes were still without power, according to PowerOutage.US - down from about 3.3 million immediately after the storm swept over the island.
Conditions remain far too dangerous for crews to begin work restoring power across large swaths of the island, which was hit by up to 30 inches of rain in some areas in a matter of hours.
Power company LUMA warned Sunday that it could take several days for a full power restoration amid “incredibly challenging” conditions for repair workers.
The storm’s quintessential cyclone shape is visible from satellite images as Fiona hits the Dominican Republic this morning
Bahamas, Bermuda likely next to be hit
Hurricane Fiona is forecast to turn north as it crosses the Dominican Republic, bringing it back over the Atlantic.
From there, the storm is expected to make a close brush with the southeastern end of the Bahamas before moving parallel to the east coast of the US up to Bermuda.
Fiona could hit Bermuda on Thursday, at which point is forecast to be nearly a Category 4 storm.
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