Hurricane Fiona caused “considerable” damage in Puerto Rico, pouring torrential rain on that American island before heading for the Dominican Republic.
The entire territory of Puerto Rico, which has a population of more than three million, was without power as the hurricane approached. According to the governor, power was restored to 100,000 people on Monday. According to the authorities, more than 800,000 people were left without a drinking water supply. “We are without electricity and without water,” Elena Santiago, an anesthetist at Aibonito Hospital (center), told AFP.
Notably, Fiona has caused landslides, uprooted trees and power lines, rendered roads impassable and led to the collapse of a bridge in the town of Utuado, in the mountainous region in the center of the island, Governor Pedro Pierluisi said
The Dominican Republic affected
Fiona arrived in the Dominican Republic on Monday. According to journalists from AFP, several roads around the resort town of Punta Cana in the eastern Dominican Republic, where power was cut, were flooded or cut off by falling trees or power poles. Since Monday morning, 789 people have been forced from their homes to go to “safe areas,” General Juan Méndez García, director of the Emergency Operations Center, told reporters.
Winds were up to 90 mph and Fiona should continue to strengthen “over the next two days” to become a Category 3 hurricane (up to 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale) on Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) based in Miami. Fiona is now traveling to the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Fiona had already caused serious damage during her overnight visit to Guadeloupe from Friday to Saturday. In places, the water rose more than 1.50 meters. There a man died who was swept away with his house by the waves of a flooded river. US President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Puerto Rico on Sunday and authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance.