Puerto Rico

Category 1 hurricane to make landfall in afternoon as it threatens to cause widespread flooding and damage to infrastructure.

It is one of the most vulnerable places on the planet to extreme weather caused by the climate crisis. It headed to US territory after battering several eastern Caribbean islands, with one death reported in the French territory of Guadeloupe late last week. Ports are closed and flights out of the main international airport have been canceled. Fiona’s center made landfall on Puerto Rico’s south-western coast near Punta Tocon at 3.20pm ET (19.20 GMT) on Sunday with maximum sustained winds of about 85mph (140km/h), the NHC said. The health minister confirmed earlier that a major cancer hospital in the capital of San Juan was without power after its backup generator failed. Some power had begun to be restored on Sunday night, with priority given to hospitals and other critical community services, energy officials said, but reconnecting the whole island would take several days.

The entire island of Puerto Rico is without power as Hurricane Fiona made landfall and threatened to cause...

"It is raining heavily and the wind is blowing hard. In that Category 5 storm, 1.5 million customers lost electricity with 80 per cent of power lines knocked out. Puerto Rico's ports have been closed and flights out of the main airport canceled. "These rains will produce life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and urban flooding across Puerto Rico and the eastern Dominican Republic, along with mudslides and landslides in areas of higher terrain," the agency said. LUMA said restoring power fully could take several days. The entire island of Puerto Rico is without power as Hurricane Fiona made landfall and threatened to cause "catastrophic flooding" and landslides before barreling toward the Dominican Republic, a government agency said.

Strong winds, flooding, and power loss across the island evoke memories of Puerto Rico's deadly 2017 Hurricane Maria.

Puerto Rico's ports have been closed and flights out of the main airport cancelled. "It is raining heavily and the wind is blowing hard. LUMA said restoring power fully could take several days.

The NHC said the storm was causing "catastrophic flooding" by early Sunday evening. By Sunday night, aid agencies in the Dominican Republic began evacuating ...

Cancel anytime.

The centre of the storm made landfall on the southwestern coast with maximum sustained winds of about 140km/h, clearing the threshold for a Category 1 ...

By Sunday night, aid agencies in the Dominican Republic began evacuating residents from high-risk areas in the east of the country. Authorities said a man was found dead on Saturday after his house was swept away by floods. Puerto Rico’s ports were closed and flights out of the main airport cancelled. “It is raining heavily and the wind is blowing hard. Puerto Rico’s grid remains fragile after Hurricane Maria in September 2017 caused the largest blackout in US history. Roads were closed and a highway bridge in Utuado, a town in the centre of the island, had been washed away by a flooding river.

The storm moved west into the Dominican Republic, as conditions in Puerto Rico remained too dangerous for repair workers early Monday.

Hurricane Maria had a deep, lasting impact on Puerto Rico, with unreliable electricity remaining a mainstay of life on the island. That storm caused the deaths of The rain will be heavy enough to produce what the National Weather Service called “life-threatening and catastrophic flooding” along with mudslides and landslides across Puerto Rico on Monday. Several large landslides were reported, and a bridge washed away in the central town of Utuado. But “we are still expecting flash flooding at least for the rest of the day today, and that might be extended for the next day,” she said. But it was immediately clear that the island would have a difficult recovery process, with as much as 30 inches of rain in some places.

Havana (AP) -- Hurricane Fiona bore down on the Dominican Republic Monday after knocking out the power grid and unleashing floods and landslides in Puerto ...

The centre of the storm made landfall on the southwestern coast with maximum sustained winds of about 140km/h, clearing the threshold for a Category 1 ...

By Sunday night, aid agencies in the Dominican Republic began evacuating residents from high-risk areas in the east of the country. Authorities said a man was found dead on Saturday after his house was swept away by floods. Puerto Rico’s ports were closed and flights out of the main airport cancelled. “It is raining heavily and the wind is blowing hard. Puerto Rico’s grid remains fragile after Hurricane Maria in September 2017 caused the largest blackout in US history. Roads were closed and a highway bridge in Utuado, a town in the centre of the island, had been washed away by a flooding river.

Hurricane Fiona has reached the shores of the Dominican Republic on Monday morning, after causing flash flooding, mudslides and an island-wide blackout in ...

Pedro Pierluisi said he could not give an estimate of when power might be fully up and running. But island officials have said that some roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been damaged or washed away as a result of the downpour. It had maximum sustained winds of 90 mph and was moving northwest at 8 mph. Stephanie Rojas/AP hide caption Stephanie Rojas/AP toggle caption As of Monday morning, the category 1 hurricane was 35 miles southeast of Samaná, a coastal town in the northeast Dominican Republic, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Hundreds of people are trapped in emergency shelters across the Caribbean island, with major roads underwater and reports of numerous collapsed bridges. Crops ...

The eye of Fiona made landfall in the Dominican Republic near Boca Yuma about 3.30am local time, according to forecasters. Puerto Rico is a tropical archipelago and US territory located a thousand miles or so south-east of Miami. Hundreds of people are trapped in emergency shelters across the Caribbean island, with major roads underwater and reports of numerous collapsed bridges. They are rebuilding exactly the same system that gets knocked down again and again. [ almost 800,000 homes and businesses](https://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/locales/notas/mas-de-778000-clientes-estan-sin-servicio-de-agua-potable-tras-el-paso-del-huracan-fiona/) have no water after Hurricane Fiona caused a total blackout on Sunday and swollen rivers contaminated the filtration system. [Lights went out across Puerto Rico just after 1pm](https://poweroutage.us/area/state/puerto%20rico) on Sunday, leaving only those households and businesses with rooftop solar or functioning generators with power.

Hurricane Fiona roared over the Dominican Republic on Monday, a day after knocking out power to all of Puerto Rico and causing damage the governor described ...

The storm was still expected to unleash torrential rain across the U.S. Authorities reported no deaths directly from Fiona, but Puerto Rico officials said it was too early to know the full scope of damage. The storm also took out a bridge and flooded an airport runway.

Fiona is pounding the Dominican Republic after thrashing Puerto Rico with torrential rain, catastrophic flooding and an islandwide power outage.

And all of the planning efforts we undertake during those blue skies days can be brought to bear when the rain falls." Eastern parts of the Dominican Republic could also see flooding, mudslides or landslides, the hurricane center said. The complex is the island's most important and stretches across 227 acres, according to the Health Administration of Puerto Rico. , carrying its structure downstream, one video of the dangerous flooding shows. And southern Puerto Rico can expect another 4 to 6 inches of rain or more early this week -- meaning Fiona will leave the island deluged with 12 to 30 inches of rain, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. This time, she said, FEMA plans to implement lessons learned from the 2017 crisis. "Our patients are safe and receiving the medical care they need." "We were much more prepared. Samuel Rivera and his mother Lourdes Rodriguez lived without power for about a year after Maria, Rivera told CNN's Layla Santiago. By late Monday morning, a bit of good news from island's capital: The power system came back up for hospitals in San Juan's medical complex, Puerto Rico Health Secretary Dr. Fiona could dump 12 inches of rain in eastern and northern parts of the country. . That would make Fiona the first major hurricane of the year in the Atlantic, the National Hurricane Center said.

Hurricane Maria wrought devastation upon Puerto Rico five years ago. As we approach this solemn anniversary, Puerto Rico is once again sustaining severe ...

I have been in contact with the Governor during the current crisis and will continue to do so to monitor the situation on the island. As we approach this solemn anniversary, Puerto Rico is once again sustaining severe weather, this time from Hurricane Fiona. “Hurricane Maria wrought devastation upon Puerto Rico five years ago.

Fiona has had such a catastrophic impact partly for reasons that long preceded the storm's landfall. Here are three major ones. The Trump administration ...

[stronger on average globally](https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/101/3/bams-d-18-0194.1.xml). [extensive relief work](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/09/20/us/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-housing.html) in the storm’s immediate aftermath, federal funds for longer-term recovery on the island became snarled in [political squabbling in Congress](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/01/us/politics/puerto-rico-aid.html). FEMA today has twice the number of generators on Puerto Rico, nine times the water, 10 times the meals and eight times the number of tarps compared with 2017, Ms. [Hurricane Fiona](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/09/19/us/hurricane-fiona-puerto-rico) dropped 30 inches of rain on the mountainous island, causing widespread damage to homes and infrastructure. Higher temperatures are also causing more water to evaporate from the oceans, and warmer air holds more moisture. There might be [slightly fewer](https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2019GL086930), scientific models predict. President Biden [authorized](https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20220918/president-joseph-r-biden-jr-approves-emergency-declaration-puerto-rico) the Federal Emergency Management Agency to mobilize and coordinate aid. [nearly 3,000 people](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/us/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-deaths.html?module=inline). Currie said. A large majority of this spending — 81 percent — has gone to emergency relief, such as debris removal, Mr. The Trump administration also [placed restrictions](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/01/climate/puerto-rico-maria-federal-aid.html) on portions of the island’s aid out of concerns that the money would be mismanaged or squandered. It took [11 months](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/14/us/puerto-rico-electricity-power.html) to restore power to all customers in the territory — a stretch, combined with that in the U.S.

Five years after Maria struck Puerto Rico, even a Category 1 hurricane like Fiona can be devastating.

It would also help to make the island’s power grid “smarter” and capable of automatically sensing where, exactly, a break has occurred. “We need policies in place to ensure transparency and accountability,” Tormos-Aponte said. And at the end of the day, the grid couldn’t withstand a relatively weak hurricane even five years after Maria. On the bright side, there’s a lot of low-hanging fruit. “This is a good example of how you don’t always need a Hurricane Maria in order to cause major impacts.” “It is the recipe for disaster,” she said. The bridge was built after Hurricane Maria as a temporary structure, Pérez-Lugo said, and it was never updated and made permanent. The most intense region of rainfall was in the eastern part of the storm, which is the exact part that passed over the island, said Paul Miller, an assistant professor of oceanography and coastal sciences at Louisiana State University. “It’s structured in a vulnerable way,” she added. [Category 1 storm](https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshws.php) has maximum sustained winds of between 74 and 95 miles per hour, the lowest of any hurricane). “In Puerto Rico, everything was on its knees.” [life-threatening and catastrophic flooding](https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCDAT2+shtml/191459.shtml?)” after [Hurricane Fiona](https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at2.shtml?start#contents) made landfall on the island this weekend as a Category 1 storm.

The hurricane winds that knocked out power to the entire island of Puerto Rico over the weekend encountered an electrical grid that experts liken to a house ...

“But we are committed to transforming the electric system in Puerto Rico. The public utility, which still controls power generation in Puerto Rico, is in bankruptcy and helped drive the U.S. The towers stand atop steep hillsides, looking over ravines, and continue to the populous north to where most of the energy is consumed. After Fiona, winds knocked out power to at least four of the island’s major transmission lines. One of the major vulnerabilities of Puerto Rico’s electrical system is the cross-country transmission system. Luma spokesman Hugo Sorrentini said the company’s crews have been hampered by extensive flooding across the island but that some 1,500 utility workers are “ready to respond” to the outages. Puerto Rico’s fragile power grid has been at the center of recriminations from protesters, customers and utility union members who have called on Pierluisi to cancel the government’s contract with Luma Energy. The U.S.-Canadian power consortium has struggled more than a year after taking over operations of Puerto Rico’s transmission and distribution lines with public perception, frequent brownouts and at least one total blackout. Luma Energy officials on Monday said power has been restored to just more than 100,000 people by Monday afternoon, including in the San Juan metropolitan area, at the city’s main hospital campus and the island’s largest airport, but the company had yet to offer a detailed assessment of the damage. The storm’s outer bands continue to drop copious amounts of rain and threaten to swell waterways already breaching their banks and causing landslides in the mountains. And a major plan to modernize the island’s electricity system, funded with billions from the U.S. Luma Energy, the private consortium that was hired in 2020 to handle transmission, has failed to satisfy critics, as power outages have increased in duration this year even apart from destructive storms, according to a report [last month ](https://apnews.com/article/puerto-rico-pedro-pierluisi-quanta-services-inc-climate-and-environment-5049018d7ae13c5fe09a6b054c2d177d)by the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau.

Hurricane Fiona knocked out electrical power to the entire commonwealth of Puerto Rico starting on Sunday, reviving memories of Hurricane Maria, ...

In early 2020, two of the island's largest power plants were damaged in a 6.4 magnitude earthquake. Puerto Rico has to import all its oil, coal and natural gas as it does not produce any fossil fuels. The island also endured a power outage in April that knocked out electricity for a third of homes and businesses. Hurricane Maria decimated the island's electrical system when it struck in late September 2017, mainly by knocking out transmission lines. PREPA had been long criticized for inadequate investment in its power system and failure to establish back-ups to maintain power during disasters. In June 2021, Puerto Rico privatized the grid by engaging LUMA Energy to operate the system, even though PREPA still owned the infrastructure.

Bad Bunny's new video shows the destruction of Hurricane Fiona in Puerto Rico and proves the island never got the aid it needed after Maria five years ago.

Those are the stories that need to find more traction outside of Puerto Rico in order for it to be transformed. [earmarked from the federal government](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-106211) in response to the 2017 hurricane season still go unspent. [an extension of what Bad Bunny has said and done in the past](https://www.vox.com/culture/23292674/bad-bunny-el-choli-concert-puerto-rico-politics-luma-gentrification), delivering the necessary context for anyone who truly wants to be an ally for Puerto Rico. If nothing else, Bad Bunny’s tribute highlights that it will take Puerto Ricans to make sure this doesn’t happen, just like it took Puerto Ricans over the years to ensure that they are not ignored. Hopefully, by shining a light on these issues as well as the unelected fiscal control board [that financially rules the colony](https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/puerto-rico-s-new-bankruptcy-plan-does-nothing-most-island-n1287883), the documentary will lead to real interest in searching for real solutions. Just like when Maria hit the island in 2017, the outpouring of concern about helping Puerto Ricans post-Fiona is real, even if it tends to come from a place of seeing Puerto Ricans as poor foreign victims with no agency or voice. Sadly, this is what Puerto Rico has become: a place with little to no real resilient infrastructure, and a local government that cannot guarantee basic needs like electricity, water or food. With more than 5 million YouTube views and counting, the music video morphs into an in-depth documentary report from freelance journalist [Bianca Graulau](https://www.latinousa.org/2022/09/16/biancagraulau/), who has gained a following on social media for her explainers about Puerto Rico’s colonial dilemma. Ironically, during a Saturday press conference about Fiona, [the power went out during Pierluisi’s remarks](https://www.nbcnews.com/video/watch-power-outage-during-tropical-storm-fiona-press-conference-in-puerto-rico-148678725941). The message is Five years have passed since Hurricane Maria slammed Puerto Rico in the early morning hours of Sept. [told local journalist ](https://twitter.com/Vaquero2XL/status/1571884553278464010)Carlos Edill Berríos Polanco via Twitter on Monday, “We’re tired.