Puerto Rico is close as Hurricane Fiona forms, near the island
Puerto Ricans Skittish braced for Sunday as Fiona strengthened into a hurricane, nearly five years on Bomb system devastated the island and caused thousands of deaths.
Fiona could hit the south coast with life-threatening floods and landslides, forecasters warn.
“It’s time to act and care,” said Nino Correa, Puerto Rico’s emergency management commissioner.
Puerto Rico felt the impact of Fiona early Sunday and the condition will only worsen, Accuweather said.
Hurricane Fiona forecast path
Fiona was located about 50 miles south of Ponce, Puerto Rico on Sunday morning and had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, National Hurricane Center speak. The storm was moving in a northwesterly direction at 8 mph.
The storm center is expected to move near or over Puerto Rico, a US territory of 3.2 million people, by Sunday afternoon or evening, the storm center said, before approaching the northern coast. of the Dominican Republic on Sunday and Monday nights.
“Torrential rain and landslides are forecast across Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic,” the storm center said.
Accuweather said that after passing through the Caribbean and Bahamas, Fiona could move on her way towards Bermuda.
“The forecast will strengthen further … before reaching the south or southwest coast of Puerto Rico” on Sunday, the center said.
A hurricane warning was in effect Sunday for Puerto Rico and some coastal areas of the Dominican Republic.
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How much rain is expected?
Fiona is expected to drop 12 to 16 inches of rain in eastern and southern Puerto Rico, and at most 25 inches in isolated spots, forecasters said.
The storm could hit cities and towns along the south coast, which are still recovering from a series of powerful earthquakes in 2019.
“These rains will cause flash flooding and life-threatening urban flooding across Puerto Rico and the eastern Dominican Republic, along with landslides and landslides in areas of higher terrain,” the center said. storm warning.
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What was the storm that devastated the island?
Fiona won’t be a mammoth system Hurricane Maria When it made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on September 20, 2017, Accuweather said it still posed a serious threat.
Maria destroyed the island’s power grid and resulted in at least 3,000 deaths.
Thousands of homes, roads and recreational facilities have yet to be repaired or rebuilt since Maria devastated the island. The government has only completed 21% of the more than 5,500 official projects following the storm, and seven of the island’s 78 centrally-run cities reported not a single project had begun, the Associated Press reported.
“I think all of us Puerto Ricans who lived through Maria have experienced post-traumatic stress.” What will happen, how long will it last, and what needs we may face? What demand? ”” resident Danny Hernández said.
Hernandez, who works in the capital San Juan, said he plans to ride out the storm with his family in the western town of Mayaguez.
Residents shopping at grocery stores are nervous, Hernandez said. “After Maria, we all experienced some degree of scarcity,” he said.
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Worried about power?
Hurricane Maria wiped out Puerto Rico’s power grid. The grid is still very fragile and is in the process of reconstruction; Power outages happen frequently.
Before Fiona, Luma, which operates power transmission and distribution, warned of “massive service disruptions”. As of Sunday morning, more than 128,700 customers had lost power.
Will Fiona have a direct impact on the US?
The potential for a direct hit to the U.S. mainland has eased since last week, Accuweather said, but the storm could bring dangerous waves and strong currents along the East Coast later this week.
How has the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season gone?
The The Atlantic hurricane season has gotten off to a slow start. For the first time in 25 years, no hurricanes formed in August, and none directly affected the US. The first hurricane of the Atlantic season usually develops on August 11, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
AUGUST QUIET:August hasn’t had a tropical storm since 1997. Is hurricane season over yet?
The regular season starts on June 1 and runs until November 30. The peak time of the regular season is around September 17.
Contributing: Doyle Rice, Associated Press