Hurricane Fiona lands in the Dominican Republic after hitting Puerto Rico
A road blocked by a mudslide in Puerto Rico on September 18, 2022. AP - Stephanie Rojas
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Hurricane Fiona made landfall on Monday, September 19 in the Dominican Republic after crossing the American island of Puerto Rico where it caused extensive damage and deprived residents of electricity.
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According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), "
the eye of
Hurricane Fiona
landed along the coast of the Dominican Republic near Boca de Yuma
" around 7:30 a.m. GMT, with winds of 144 kilometers per hour.
The NHC clarified on Twitter to predict sustained winds that can blow up to 150 km / h.
“
Life-threatening floods are likely to occur in areas in the eastern Dominican Republic,
” according to an NHC point at 5 a.m. local time (9 a.m. GMT).
Prior to Fiona's arrival in the Dominican Republic, President Luis Abinader announced that public and private services would be closed on Monday.
The island has placed 13 of its 32 provinces, in the North and East, on red alert.
Heavy rains began Sunday evening to fall in Nagua (North), a coastal town of around 80,000 inhabitants located in one of the regions declared on red alert.
On Sunday, Fiona upgraded from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane, at the bottom of the Saffir-Simpson scale, and made landfall at 3:20 p.m. local (1920 GMT) on the southwest coast of Porto. Rico near Punta Tocon, carrying winds of up to 140 km/h.
US President Joe Biden has declared a state of emergency for Puerto Rico.
Landslides and cave-ins
Fiona has notably caused landslides, downed trees and power lines, made roads impassable and led to the collapse of a bridge in the town of Utuado, in the mountainous region in the center of the island, Governor Pedro Pierluisi said at a press conference on Sunday evening.
The entire territory of Puerto Rico, which has more than three million inhabitants, was without electricity as the hurricane approached, he added.
At the same time, some 196,000 people were deprived of drinking water.
In the town of Utuado, a family saw the zinc roof of their house fly off, like in 2017 during Hurricane Maria, according to local media.
► To read also: Storm Fiona: the state of natural disaster will be recognized in Guadeloupe
On Monday, Puerto Rico's electricity company indicated on its website that it had "
relaunched certain circuits
", without giving figures on the number of people again supplied.
In Puerto Rico, the NHC warned that devastating rains and flash floods would continue to hit the island.
(
With
AFP)
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