Hurricane Fiona hits Dominican Republic, while 'catastrophe' lingers in Puerto Rico (2024)

Hurricane Fiona roared over the Dominican Republic on Monday, September 19, after knocking out power across all of Puerto Rico, causing damage the governor said was "catastrophic."

Fiona's further torrential rains in Puerto Rico on Monday come a day after the storm knocked out power and water to most of the island, and National Guard troops rescued hundreds of people who were stranded. The governor warned that it could take days to get the lights back on.

The blow from Fiona was made more devastating because Puerto Rico has yet to recover from Hurricane Maria, which killed nearly 3,000 people and destroyed the power grid in 2017. Exactly five years later, more than 3,000 homes on the island are still covered by blue tarps.

The storm stripped pavement from roads, tore off roofs and sent torrents pouring into homes. It also took out a bridge and flooded two airports.

Authorities have reported two deaths from the hurricane – a Puerto Rican man who was swept away by a flooded river and a person in the Dominican Republic who was hit by a falling tree.

As much as 38 centimeters were projected for the eastern Dominican Republic on Monday, where authorities told most people to stay home from work and banned use of beaches.

"It’s important people understand that this is not over," said Ernesto Morales, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Juan. He said flooding reached "historic levels," with authorities evacuating or rescuing hundreds of people across the island.

"The damages that we are seeing are catastrophic," said Governor Pedro Pierluisi.

Before dawn on Monday, authorities in a boat navigated the flooded streets of the north coast Puerto Rican town of Catano and used a megaphone to alert people that the pumps had collapsed, urging them to evacuate as soon as possible. Authorities said at least 1,300 people spent the night in shelters across the island.

Roofs 'flew off'

Brown water rushed through streets, into homes and consumed a runway airport in southern Puerto Rico. Fiona also ripped asphalt from roads and washed away a bridge in the central mountain town of Utuado that police said was installed by the National Guard after Hurricane Maria hit in 2017 as a Category 4 storm.

The storm also tore the roofs off homes, including that of Nelson Cirino in the northern coastal town of Loiza. "I was sleeping and saw when the corrugated metal flew off," he said as he watched rain drench his belongings and wind whip his colorful curtains into the air.

Fiona was centered 55 kilometers southeast of Samana in the Dominican Republic, with maximum sustained winds of 150 kph on Monday morning, according to the US National Hurricane Center. It was moving to the northwest at 13 kph.

Tropical storm force winds extended out for 240 kilometers from the center.

Forecasters said the storm was expected to emerge over the Atlantic in the afternoon and pass close to the Turks and Caicos islands on Tuesday. It could near Bermuda as a major hurricane late Thursday or on Friday.

Additionally, one death in Puerto Rico was associated with the ensuing blackout – a 70-year-old man who was burned to death after he tried to fill his generator with gasoline while it was running, officials said.

Governor Pedro Pierluisi declined to say how long it would take to fully restore electricity, but he said for most customers it would be "a question of days."

Since the start of the storm, National Guard troops have rescued more than 900 people, General José Reyes told a news conference.