Page 6 - aruba-today-20220919

A6 WORLD NEWS
Monday 19 SepteMber 2022
Hurricane Fiona makes landfall in powerless Puerto Rico

By DÁNICA COTO with the National Weather
Associated Press Service in San Juan.
HAVANA (AP) — Hurricane Fiona was predicted to
Fiona struck Puerto Rico's drop 12 to 16 inches (30 to
southwest coast on Sunday 41 centimeters) of rain over
after causing an island- eastern and southern Puer-
wide power blackout and to Rico, with as much as
threatening to dump "his- 25 inches (64 centimeters)
toric" levels of rain. in isolated spots. Morales
Forecasters said the down- noted that Hurricane Maria
pour was expected to pro- in 2017 had unleashed 40
duce landslides and cata- inches (102 centimeters).
strophic flooding, with up to The National Weather Ser-
25 inches (64 centimeters) vice warned late Saturday
possible in isolated areas. that the Blanco River in the
"It's time to take action and southeast coastal town of
be concerned," said Nino Naguabo had already sur-
Correa, Puerto Rico's emer- passed its banks and urged
gency management com- people living nearby to
missioner. move immediately.
Fiona hit about 15 miles (25 Nelson Cirino sees his bedroom after the winds of hurricane Fiona tore the roof off his house in Pierluisi announced Sun-
kilometers) south-southeast Loiza, Puerto Rico, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022. day that public schools
of Mayaguez with maxi- Associated Press and government agencies
mum sustained winds of 85 would remain closed on
mph (140 kph), according working to repair genera- might we face?'" said Dan- In the southwest town of Monday.
to the U.S. National Hurri- tors as soon as possible at ny Hernández, who works in El Combate, hotel co- Fiona was forecast to swipe
cane Center. It was moving the Comprehensive Can- the capital of San Juan but owner Tomás Rivera said the Dominican Republic on
to the northwest at 9 mph cer Center. planned to weather the he was prepared but wor- Monday and then northern
(15 kph). Fiona hit just two days be- storm with his parents and ried about the "enormous" Haiti and the Turks and Ca-
The storm's clouds covered fore the anniversary of Hur- family in the western town amount of rain he expect- icos Islands with the threat
the entire island and tropi- ricane Maria, a devastat- of Mayaguez. ed. He noted that a nearby of heavy rain. It could
cal storm-force winds ex- ing Category 4 storm that He said the atmosphere wildlife refuge was eerily threaten the far southern
tended as far as 140 miles struck on Sept. 20, 2017, was gloomy at the super- quiet. end of the Bahamas on
(220 kilometers) from Fio- destroying the island's pow- market as he and others "There are thousands of Tuesday.
na's center. er grid and causing nearly stocked up before the birds here, and they are no- A hurricane warning was
U.S. President Joe Biden 3,000 deaths. storm hit. where to be seen," he said. posted for the Dominican
declared a state of emer- More than 3,000 homes still "After Maria, we all experi- "Even the birds have real- Republic's eastern coast
gency in the U.S. territory have only a blue tarp as a enced scarcity to some ex- ized what is coming, and from Cabo Caucedo to
as the eye of the storm roof, and infrastructure re- tent," he said. they're preparing." Cabo Frances Viejo.
approached the island's mains weak. The storm was forecast to Rivera said his employees Fiona previously battered
southwest corner. Luma, the company that pummel cities and towns brought bedridden fam- the eastern Caribbean, kill-
Luma, the company that operates power transmis- along Puerto Rico's south- ily members to the hotel, ing one man in the French
operates power transmis- sion and distribution, said ern coast that have not where he has stocked up territory of Guadeloupe
sion and distribution, said bad weather, including yet fully recovered from a on diesel, gasoline, food, when floods washed his
bad weather, including winds of 80 mph, had dis- string of strong earthquakes water and ice, given how home away, officials said.
winds of 80 mph, had dis- rupted transmission lines, starting in late 2019. slowly the government re- The storm also damaged
rupted transmission lines, leading to "a blackout on Officials reported several sponded after Hurricane roads, uprooted trees and
leading to "a blackout on all the island." road closures across the Maria. destroyed at least one
all the island." "Current weather condi- island as trees and small "What we've done is pre- bridge.
"Current weather condi- tions are extremely danger- landslides blocked access. pared ourselves to depend St. Kitts and Nevis also
tions are extremely danger- ous and are hindering out More than 640 people with as little as possible on the reported flooding and
ous and are hindering out capacity to evaluate the some 70 pets had sought central government," he downed trees, but an-
capacity to evaluate the complete situation," it said, shelter across the island by said. nounced its international
complete situation," it said, adding that it could take Saturday night, the major- It's a sentiment shared by airport would reopen on
adding that it could take several days to fully restore ity of them in the southern 70-year-old Ana Córdova, Sunday afternoon. Dozens
several days to fully restore power. coast. who arrived Saturday at a of customers were still with-
power. "I think all of us Puerto Ricans Puerto Rico's power grid shelter in the north coastal out power or water, ac-
Health centers were run- who lived through Maria was razed by Hurricane town of Loiza after buying cording to the Caribbean
ning on generators — and have that post-traumatic Maria and remains frail, loads of food and water. Disaster Emergency Man-
some of those had failed. stress of, 'What is going to with reconstruction starting "I don't trust them," she said, agement Agency.
Health Secretary Carlos happen, how long is it go- only recently. Outages are referring to the govern- In the eastern Pacific, Tropi-
Mellado said crews were ing to last and what needs a daily occurrence. ment. "I lost trust after what cal Storm Madeline was
happened after Hurricane forecast to cause heavy
LIKE US ON Maria." rains and flooding across
parts of southwestern Mex-
Puerto Rico's governor, Pe-
dro Pierluisi, activated the ico. The storm was cen-
National Guard as the At- tered about 155 miles (245
lantic hurricane season's kilometers) south-southwest
sixth named storm ap- of Cabo Corrientes Sunday
proached. "What worries morning, with maximum
Facebook.com/arubatoday/ me most is the rain," said sustained winds of 45 mph
forecaster Ernesto Morales (75 kph).q