(Daily Mail) Hurricane Fiona has made landfall on Puerto Rico on Sunday, wiping out power and plunging the island into darkness.
The U.S. territory is bracing for life-threatening flash floods and mudslides as it was announced earlier today that the storm strengthened into hurricane status.
The deadly weather front, which has already been blamed for one death, was about 50 miles south of the city of Ponce with maximum sustained winds near 80 miles per hour, clearing the threshold for hurricane strength, the NHC said.
Torrential rains and mudslides were also forecast for the Dominican Republic as the storm progresses northwestward.
‘On the forecast track, the center of Fiona will approach Puerto Rico this morning, and move near or over Puerto Rico this afternoon or evening,’ the NHC said in an update at 11:00 a.m.
U.S. President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Puerto Rico on Sunday, a move that authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate disaster relief operations and provide emergency protective measures.
A man jumps into an all terrain vehicle as Hurricane Fiona made landfall in Ponce, Puerto Rico bringing torrential rains
People who were evacuated from their homes are seen in a class room of a public school turned shelter as the storm reached the island
Firefighters work to remove a fallen tree from the road in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico as strong winds threaten to rip apart the island
This satellite image provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Fiona in the Caribbean on Saturday
Residents attach protective plywood to a window of their home in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Fiona, in Loiza, Puerto Rico
A September 17 photo shows the aftermath of the Fiona storm in Capesterre-Belle-Eau, on the French island of Guadeloupe
Jetsabel Osorio stands in her house damaged five years ago by Hurricane Maria before the arrival of Hurricane Fiona
Puerto Rico, a Caribbean island of 3.3 million people, could be hit by up to 25 inches of rain.
‘These rains will produce life-threatening flash flooding and urban flooding across Puerto Rico and the eastern Dominican Republic, along with mudslides and landslides in areas of higher terrain,’ the NHC said.
Puerto Rico’s grid remains fragile after Hurricane Maria in September 2017 caused the largest blackout in U.S. history.
In that category 5 storm, 1.5 million customers lost electricity with 80% of power lines knocked out.
Authorities have opened about 80 shelters and closed beaches and casinos, and residents were urged to seek shelter.
The one death reported so far from Fiona was in the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, after heavy rains swept away his house in the Basse-Terre district, authorities said on Saturday.
The storm was forecast to pummel cities and towns along Puerto Rico´s southern coast that are still recovering from a string of strong earthquakes that hit the region starting in late 2019, with several schools still shuttered and debris to be removed.
More than 100 people had sought shelter across the island by Saturday night, the majority of them in the southern coastal city of Guayanilla.
A cyclist rides his bike in a flooded street due to the passage of the Fiona storm in Capesterre-Belle-Eau, on the French island of Guadeloupe
Nelson Cirino secures the windows of his home as the winds of Hurricane Fiona blow in Loiza, Puerto Rico
Roads were flooded on Guadeloupe and there appeared to be some damage to vegetation
