Hurricane in Puerto Rico, named Hurricane Fiona hit 85 mph winds on Sunday. The strength of the hurricane knocked out power for nearly 1.5 million people on the island.
An estimate of 196,000 people left without potable water. Additionally, the storm caused “catastrophic” flooding, NBC News reports.
“These rains will produce life-threatening and catastrophic flash and urban flooding across Puerto Rico and the eastern Dominican Republic, along with mudslides and landslides in areas of higher terrain,” according to a public advisory.
Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi stated that 9 to 13 inches of rain poured onto the commonwealth in five hours from the Category 1 hurricane.
During the Hurricane in Puerto Rico about 5 years ago the island was left devastated.
The then, Hurricane Maria on Sept. 20, 2017, was declared as a FEMA disaster.
During that time about 3,000 people died and over 3 million people lost power.
On Tuesday, BBC reported that Hurricane Fiona caused multiple fires. A 58-year-old man died after being swept away by a river in the town of Comerío. Another man in his 30s had died in a generator fire.
“Our grid may be functional, but it’s fragile,” Sergio Marxuach, a policy director at the Center for a New Economy, told NBC. “Five years later, we are still exposed to the same risk.”
As the storm made landfall in the Dominican Republic on Monday, there are reports that “life-threatening flash and urban flooding is likely for eastern portions of the Dominican Republic through early Tuesday.”
Elected officials on mainland U.S. have expressed their concerns and sympathies for Puerto Rico. Additionally, President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration. This authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to direct disaster relief efforts to the island.
BBC also reported, about 600 National Guard soldiers are currently conducting rescue operations across the island, and some 1,000 people have so far been rescued. First responders from three states are expected to assist in the coming days.
