At least one person died as a result of Hurricane Fiona in the Dominican Republic. 12,485 people were also forced to leave their homes, the director of the Rescue Services Center, General Juan Méndez García, said Monday (local time). The storm caused street flooding and power outages. “Fiona” had already caused serious damage in the US territory of Puerto Rico.
According to the US Hurricane Center (NHC), the hurricane reached wind speeds of up to 150 kilometers per hour in the Dominican Republic. Authorities have issued a red alert for 16 of the Caribbean state’s 32 provinces. In the resort town of Punta Cana, several roads were blocked by fallen trees or power poles and the power went out.
The hurricane continued towards the Turks and Caicos Islands, north of the Dominican Republic. “Fiona” hit Puerto Rico on Sunday afternoon with winds of up to 140 km/h. The power grid collapsed on the Caribbean island of more than three million people, and heavy rains caused flooding and landslides. According to Governor Pedro Pierluisi, power was restored to about 100,000 people on Monday.
In “many regions” of US territory that never experienced flooding, more rainwater was collected than ever before. “Fiona” hit there with more violence than the devastating Hurricane “Maria” in 2017, Pierluisi explained. According to authorities, a total of 800,000 people were cut off from their drinking water supply this time due to power cuts and flooding.
A man suffered fatal burns while trying to fuel his generator because of the power outage. Downed power poles and trees blocked roads and a bridge collapsed in the city of Utuado.
US President Joe Biden has declared a state of emergency for Puerto Rico. On Monday, Biden spoke with Governor Pierluisi and assured that the number of rescue teams sent from Washington would be “consistently increased” from the current 300.