Puerto Rico hit by blackout as Hurricane Fiona makes landfall
President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in the U.S. territory as 'life-threatening' floods expected
The entire island of Puerto Rico was without power on Sunday as Hurricane Fiona made landfall and threatened to cause "catastrophic flooding" and landslides before barreling toward the Dominican Republic, a government agency said.
The centre of the storm made landfall on the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico near Punta Tocon at 3:20 p.m. ET with maximum sustained winds of about 85 miles per hour 140 km/h, clearing the threshold for a Category 1 hurricane, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Electricity was out across the island of 3.3 million people, LUMA Energy, operator of the island's grid and the Puerto Rico power authority said in a statement. LUMA said restoring power fully could take several days.
Puerto Rico's ports have been closed and flights out of the main airport cancelled. Torrential rains and mudslides were also forecast for the Dominican Republic as the storm progresses northwestward, with the Turks and Caicos Islands likely facing tropical storm conditions on Tuesday, the NHC said.
"These rains will produce life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and urban flooding across Puerto Rico and the eastern Dominican Republic, along with mudslides and landslides in areas of higher terrain," the agency said.
U.S. President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in the U.S. territory as the eye of the storm approached the island's southwest corner.
Puerto Rico's largest public hospital was running on generators and at some centres, those had failed. Health Secretary Carlos Mellado said crews were working to repair generators as soon as possible at the Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Hurricane Maria caused nearly 3,000 deaths
Fiona hit just two days before the anniversary of Hurricane Maria, a devastating Category 4 storm that struck the island on Sept. 20, 2017, destroying its power grid and causing nearly 3,000 deaths.
More than 3,000 homes still have only blue tarps as roofs, and infrastructure remains weak.
"I think all of us Puerto Ricans who lived through Maria have that post-traumatic stress of, 'What is going to happen, how long is it going to last and what needs might we face?"' said Danny Hernandez, who works in the capital of San Juan but planned to weather the storm with his parents and family in the western town of Mayaguez.
He said the atmosphere was gloomy at the supermarket as he and others stocked up before the storm hit.
"After Maria, we all experienced scarcity to some extent," he said.
The storm was forecast to pummel cities and towns along Puerto Rico's southern coast that have not yet fully recovered from a string of strong earthquakes starting in late 2019.
Officials reported several road closures across the island as trees and small landslides blocked access.
More than 640 people with some 70 pets had sought shelter across the island by Saturday night, the majority of them in the southern coast.
Puerto Rico's power grid was razed by Hurricane Maria and remains frail, with reconstruction starting only recently. Outages are a daily occurrence.
'Even the birds have realized what is coming'
In the southwest town of El Combate, hotel co-owner Tomas Rivera said he was prepared but worried about the "enormous" amount of rain he expected. He noted that a nearby wildlife refuge was eerily quiet.
"There are thousands of birds here, and they are nowhere to be seen," he said. "Even the birds have realized what is coming, and they're preparing."
Rivera said his employees brought bedridden family members to the hotel, where he has stocked up on diesel, gasoline, food, water and ice, given how slowly the government responded after Hurricane Maria.
"What we've done is prepared ourselves to depend as little as possible on the central government," he said.
It's a sentiment shared by 70-year-old Ana Cordova, who arrived Saturday at a shelter in the north coastal town of Loiza after buying loads of food and water.
"I don't trust them," she said, referring to the government. "I lost trust after what happened after Hurricane Maria."
Puerto Rico's governor, Pedro Pierluisi, activated the National Guard as the Atlantic hurricane season's sixth named storm approached.
"What worries me most is the rain," said forecaster Ernesto Morales with the National Weather Service in San Juan.
Fiona was predicted to drop 30 to 41 centimetres of rain over eastern and southern Puerto Rico, with as much as 64 centimetres in isolated spots. Morales noted that Hurricane Maria in 2017 had unleashed 102 centimetres.
Some residents already urged to move
A hurricane warning was posted for the Dominican Republic's eastern coast from Cabo Caucedo to Cabo Frances Viejo.
Fiona previously battered the eastern Caribbean, killing one man in the French territory of Guadeloupe when floods washed his home away, officials said. The storm also damaged roads, uprooted trees and destroyed at least one bridge.
St. Kitts and Nevis also reported flooding and downed trees, but announced its international airport would reopen on Sunday afternoon. Dozens of customers were still without power or water, according to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency.
In the eastern Pacific, Tropical Storm Madeline was forecast to cause heavy rains and flooding across parts of southwestern Mexico. The storm was centred about 245 kilometres south-southwest of Cabo Corrientes Sunday morning, with maximum sustained winds of 75 km/h.
With files from The Associated Press