SAN JUAN (AP) — Hurricane Fiona was heading north Monday night after bringing torrential rain and strong winds to the Dominican Republic and a general blackout in neighboring Puerto Rico that left at least three dead.
Fiona, the first hurricane to hit the Dominican Republic since Jeanne caused severe damage in September 2004, caused severe flooding, isolated villages, forced some 12,500 people from their homes and left 709,000 without electricity.
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“It’s considerable,” said President Luis Abinader, who plans to call for a state of crisis in the provinces of La Altagracia, home to the prominent beach resorts of Punta Cana, El Seibo and Hato Mayor.
A man was killed when a tree fell in the coastal city of Matancitas, north of the capital Santo Domingo, emergency operations officer Juan Manuel Mendez told reporters.
The Category 2 hurricane, with maximum wind speeds of 110 mph (177 km/h), was located about 80 miles (129 km) southeast of Grand Turk Island, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said, and is expected to be a Category 3 as it crosses warm Caribbean waters into the Turks and Caicos Islands.
On Tuesday, central Fiona is expected to pass near the archipelago, where a hurricane watch was declared, the NHC said, and tropical typhoon situations are also expected in the Bahamas.
After strafing Puerto Rico, Fiona made landfall in the Dominican Republic near Boca Yuma on Monday morning and reached the northern coast of Hispaniola before noon.
In Altagracia, in the east, the overflow of the Yuma River broke more and left several villages isolated.
Electricity and water services are working to repair the affected areas.
Puerto Rico, a U. S. territory, continues to be hit by strong winds, common lightning and heavy rain after Fiona made landfall there Sunday afternoon, dumping up to 30 inches (76. 2 cm) of rain in some areas.
The typhoon comes five years after Puerto Rico swept through Hurricane Maria, which caused the worst blackout in U. S. history.
U. S. President Joe Biden spoke Monday with Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi and promised to send more staff to the island in the coming days.
“The president said he would have the federal team continue to work toward this,” the White House said in a statement.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell will do so on Tuesday.
Jeannette Rivera, 54, a public relations officer in Orlando, Florida, said she hasn’t spoken to her circle of family since an asymmetrical phone call Sunday morning.
He fears for the protection of his parents and the physical condition of his 84-year-old father, who just had COVID-19 and had a fever.
“My fear is that if they want help, there’s no way to communicate,” Rivera said.
IMPOTENT
Nearly 90 percent of Puerto Rico remained active Monday, according to Poweroutage. us. Officials said it would take days to regain strength for the island’s 3. 3 million people.
Fallen trees and landslides blocked many roads. Social media footage showed submerged cars, others wading waist-deep water and lifeboats floating on flooded streets. Only 30% of drinking water consumers receive service.
Crews rescued about 400 more people from flooding in the southern city of Salinas, where rain turned to drizzle. The southern and southeastern regions were the most affected.
Puerto Rico’s force network remains fragile despite emergency maintenance after Maria, says the Center for a New Economy, a Puerto Rican think tank.
Thousands of Puerto Ricans still under makeshift tarpaulin roofs after Maria, a category five typhoon in 2017 that killed more than 3,000 people, left 1. 5 million consumers without power and destroyed 80 percent of power lines.
A 70-year-old man in the northern city of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, the first known victim, was immediately killed by the explosion of his electric generator as he tried to turn it on, police said.
At one point, the guy drowned, while police said an 88-year-old man died from a central attack.
Hundreds of first responders joined recovery efforts after Biden declared an emergency, allowing FEMA to coordinate crisis relief for the island.
For up to five years since Maria, the indebted government and corporate force had been mired in bankruptcy, with Puerto Rico’s finances controlled through a federally appointed oversight board. (Reporting through Ivelisse Riveria in San Juan and Ezequiel Abiu López in Santo Domingo; information through Tyler Clifford, Rich McKay, Trevor Hunnicutt, Mica Rosenberg, Christian Plumb and Tim Reid; Written through Tyler Clifford and Costas Pitas; Editing by Frank McGurty, Mark Porter, Richard Chang and Leslie Adler)
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