Current:Home > MyBattered by Hurricane Fiona, this is what a blackout looks like across Puerto Rico -Pinnacle Profit Strategies
Battered by Hurricane Fiona, this is what a blackout looks like across Puerto Rico
View
Date:2025-04-15 21:03:34
Hurricane Fiona made landfall in the Dominican Republic on Monday morning, as millions in Puerto Rico face flash flooding, mudslides and an island-wide blackout.
The National Hurricane Center warned that the Category 1 hurricane is moving into the Atlantic and is likely to strengthen. Fiona, which is traveling with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph, is forecast to travel near or east of the Turks and Caicos Islands as early as Monday night.
In Puerto Rico, the full extent of the damage is still unclear as the storm has unleashed torrential rains across much of the island, causing massive flooding and landslides. Island officials have said that some roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been damaged or washed away as a result of the downpour.
Most of the island also remains without power, according to utility companies' reports tracked by PowerOutage.us. More than 775,000 residents also have no access to clean water.
The latest hurricane to batter the U.S. territory, Fiona struck two days before the fifth anniversary of Maria, the devastating storm that killed more than 3,000 people and nearly destroyed the island's electricity system.
On Monday, Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi called the damages to the island's housing and fragile infrastructure from the Category 1 storm "catastrophic."
"In many areas, flooding is worse than what we saw during Hurricane Maria," Pierluisi said during a press briefing.
"So far we've gotten about 30 inches of rain, even in areas where they had never experienced flooding," he added.
Heavy rainfall and life-threatening flooding risks are expected to last through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. The saturation "will also continue to trigger mudslides and rockfall in areas of steep terrain."
Fiona's powerful winds and the subsequent deluge of rainfall knocked out the island's power grid, throwing the island into a blackout. Officials have said it will take several days to fully restore service to over a million residents.
Shortly after the hurricane struck on Sunday, Pierluisi said it would be a "matter of days," and not months, to fully restore the grid — referring to the drawn-out power restoration after Hurricane Maria in 2017.
Since then, the island's power crews were able to restore electricity to about 100,000 customers living in the northeast region near the capital San Juan, Luma Energy, the island's private electric utility, wrote on Facebook.
President Biden has approved an emergency declaration for Puerto Rico on Sunday, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts.
Adrian Florido contributed reporting.
veryGood! (72)
Related
- Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
- Uber driver hits and kills a toddler after dropping her family at their Houston home
- Caitlin Clark and Iowa get no favors in NCAA Tournament bracket despite No. 1 seed
- Chicago-area man gets 18 years for 2021 drunken driving crash that killed 3
- What to know about Tuesday’s US House primaries to replace Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
- Stock market today: Asian shares are mixed after Bank of Japan ups key rate for 1st time in 17 years
- Gray whale dies after it washed ashore Malibu beach: Experts hope to figure out why
- Celine Dion shares health update in rare photo with sons
- A White House order claims to end 'censorship.' What does that mean?
- Is the Great Resignation over? Not quite. Turnover stays high in these industries.
Ranking
- Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
- Uncomfortable Conversations: Did you get stuck splitting the dining bill unfairly?
- Trump is making the Jan. 6 attack a cornerstone of his bid for the White House
- Supreme Court wary of restricting government contact with social media platforms in free speech case
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Which NCAA basketball teams are in March Madness 2024? See the full list by conference
- EPA bans asbestos, a deadly carcinogen still in use decades after a partial ban was enacted
- R. Kelly seeks appeals court relief from 30-year prison term
Recommendation
'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
The longest-serving member of the Alabama House resigns after pleading guilty to federal charges
‘Access Hollywood’ tape won’t be played at Donald Trump’s hush-money criminal trial, judge rules
Petrochemicals Are Killing Us, a New Report Warns in the New England Journal of Medicine
The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
Dodgers DH Shohei Ohtani to begin throwing program soon, could play field this season
Chicago-area man gets 18 years for 2021 drunken driving crash that killed 3
Alaska lawmakers fail to override the governor’s education package veto