Written by DÁNICA COTO

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

No deaths had been reported, but authorities in the U.S. territory said it was too early to know the full scope of damage from an expansive storm that was still forecast to unleash torrential rain across Puerto Rico on Monday.

Up to 30 inches (76 centimeters) was forecast for Puerto Rico’s southern region. As much as 15 inches were projected for the eastern Dominican Republic.

“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 Gov. Pedro Pierluisi.

Before dawn on Monday, authorities in a boat navigated the flooded streets of the north coast town of Catano and used a megaphone to alert people that the pumps had collapsed, urging them to evacuate as soon as possible.

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 35 miles (55 kilometers) southeast of Samana in the Dominican Republic, with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (150 kph) on Monday morning, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. It was moving to the northwest at eight mph (13 kph).

Tropical storm-force winds extended out for 150 miles (240 kilometers) from the center.

Forecasters said the storm’s 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.

Fiona hit Puerto Rico on the anniversary of Hurricane Hugo, which slammed into the island in 1989 as a Category 3 storm, and two days before the anniversary of 2017′s devastating Hurricane Maria — from which the territory has yet to fully recover.

That hurricane caused nearly 3,000 deaths and destroyed the power grid. Five years later, more than 3,000 homes still have only a blue tarp as a roof.

Authorities announced Monday that power had been returned to 100,000 customers on an island of 3.2 million people, but power distribution company Luma said it could take days to fully restore service.

U.S. President Joe Biden had declared a state of emergency in the U.S. territory as the eye of the storm approached the island’s southwest corner.

Puerto Rico’s health centers were running on generators — and some of those had failed. Health Secretary Carlos Mellado said crews rushed to repair generators at the Comprehensive Cancer Center, where several patients had to be evacuated.

Fiona previously battered the eastern Caribbean, killing one man in the French territory of Guadeloupe when floods washed his home away, officials said.

 

Related Stories
‹
6.4 Earthquake Strikes Puerto Rico Amid Heavy Seismic Activity
A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Puerto Rico before dawn on Tuesday, and was followed three hours later by an aftershock measuring 6.0. They are the largest in a series of quakes that have struck the U.S. territory in recent days and caused heavy damage in some areas. At least one person was known to have died. […]
Powerful Earthquake Rocks Myanmar and Thailand, Killing at Least 3 in Bangkok High-Rise Collapse
A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand on Friday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed.
Strong Earthquake Kills at Least 126 People in Western China Near Mount Everest
Written by KEN MORITSUGU BEIJING (AP) — A strong earthquake shook a high-altitude region of western China and areas of Nepal on Tuesday, damaging hundreds of houses, littering streets with rubble and killing at least 126 people in Tibet. Many others were trapped as dozens of aftershocks shook the remote region. Rescue workers climbed mounds of broken bricks, […]
'One Step At A Time': Ethan Ramos Set to Make History as First UNC Wrestler in Olympics
Ethan Ramos, who is a former Tar Heel wrestler and now an assistant coach at Duke, is representing Puerto Rico at the Olympics.
A Year After Syria’s Deadly Earthquake, Orphaned Children Adjust to the Loss Bit by Bit
Some 542 children were found “unaccompanied and separated” after the earthquake throughout Syria in 2023, says UNICEF.
After Review, Orange County Says Boom in Hillsborough Was 2.2 Magnitude Earthquake
UPDATE: On Friday, the Orange County government said the U.S. Geological Survey completed a review and determined the loud noise ultimately was a small earthquake.
Moroccans With Shovels and Bulldozers Dig Through Rubble but Hope for Survivors Dwindles After Quake
Written by SAM METZ and MOSA’AB ELSHAMY Survivors with shovels worked alongside bulldozers Monday to dig through remote Moroccan villages flattened by a monstrous earthquake, as hope dwindled of finding people alive under wood-and-dirt homes that pancaked into rubble and rescuers overseas waited for Morocco to let them help. More than 2,400 were killed when the […]
Sancar Turkish Center Holds Info Session on Earthquakes' Impact, Fundraising
Last Sunday afternoon, as some in our community were finalizing Super Bowl plans or finishing their weekends, others were gathered at the Sancar Turkish Cultural Center in Chapel Hill. Dozens of people milled around the Greathall room, sipping tea and nibbling on baklava. There were smiles and laughs as people greeted each other, […]
Powerful Quake Rocks Turkey and Syria, Kills More Than 2,300
Written by GHAITH ALSAYED and SUZAN FRASER A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked wide swaths of Turkey and Syria early Monday, toppling hundreds of buildings and killing more than 2,300 people. Hundreds were still believed to be trapped under rubble, and the toll was expected to rise as rescue workers searched mounds of wreckage in cities […]
Fiona Slams Dominican Republic After Pounding Puerto Rico
Written by DÁNICA COTO Hurricane Fiona roared over the Dominican Republic on Monday after knocking out power across all of Puerto Rico, causing damage the governor said was “catastrophic.” No deaths had been reported, but authorities in the U.S. territory said it was too early to know the full scope of damage from an expansive […]
›