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After Hurricane Fiona, Puerto Rico Could Be Without Power For Days


As Hurricane Fiona headed west into the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico was left early Monday with a collapsed energy grid, widespread flooding and continued heavy rain, with conditions remaining too dangerous for officials to judge the scope of the crisis.

But it is clear that the island will have a difficult recovery, with up to 30 inches of rain in some places. Even as the storm moves west, heavy rain is expected from its outer bands in Puerto Rico through Monday afternoon. The rain will be heavy enough to create what the National Weather Service calls “catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” along with landslides and landslides across Puerto Rico on Monday.

All of the nearly 1.5 million customers followed by poweroutage.us, Watch out for power outages, no power on Sundays. Electric utility LUMA warned on Sunday that restoring full power in Puerto Rico could take days, with the storm creating “extremely difficult” conditions for repair workers.

“Current weather conditions are extremely dangerous and are hindering our ability to fully assess the situation.” it says on its website.

On Sunday morning, Fiona strengthened from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane. Although the center of the storm passed over the island on Monday morning, making landfall in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico continued to experience winds and rain like a tropical storm.

The National Weather Service said at 5 a.m. on Monday that an extra 1 to 6 inches of rain could fall across the island on Monday.

“These rains will continue to cause catastrophic and life-threatening flooding along with landslides and landslides across Puerto Rico,” the National Weather Service said.

Floodwaters rose rapidly on Sunday, with hundreds forced to evacuate or rescue across the island, according to The Associated Press. Several major landslides were reported and a bridge washed away in the central town of Utuado.

On Sunday, President Biden approve an emergency declaration for Puerto Rico, authorizes federal agencies to coordinate disaster relief efforts.

Pedro Pierluisi, the governor of Puerto Rico, said at a news conference Sunday afternoon that officials were rescuing people in isolated areas and deploying the National Guard and other personnel to provide first aid. canopy low-lying areas where rivers are expected to flood.

Deanne Criswell, administrator for FEMA, said in a statement late Sunday that the agency deployed hundreds of staff members to Puerto Rico before the storm made landfall and that the primary focus was on saving lives and other needs. instantaneous demand such as restoring power.

For many Puerto Ricans, the storm brought back horrifying memories of Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 hurricane, and produced up to 40 inches of rain in 2017, almost five years ago to be exact. That storm caused the death of estimated 2,975 people.

Hurricane Maria has had a profound and lasting effect on Puerto Rico, with unreliable power remaining a mainstay of life on the island. Widespread anger followed by a slow recovery led to major power shifts, including former Governor Ricardo A. Rosselló step down next a popular uprising lasts 15 days.



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