DailyExpertNews
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More than a million people in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic woke up Thursday with no power or running water again as crews work to repair critical utilities shut down by Hurricane Fiona — now a Category 4 monster headed for Bermuda.
The first major hurricane of the Atlantic season this year has killed at least five people in the Caribbean: one in Guadeloupe, two in Puerto Rico and two in the Dominican Republic.
FIONA FOLLOW
“This was something incredible that we’ve never seen before,” Ramona Santana in Higüey, Dominican Republic, told DailyExpertNews en Español. ‘We are on the street with nothing, no food, no shoes, no clothes, just what you have on your back. … We have nothing. We have God and the hopeful help will come.”
Downtown Fiona, now with sustained winds of 130 mph, will pass just west of Bermuda early Friday as conditions begin to deteriorate Thursday, DailyExpertNews meteorologist Robert Shackelford said. The island is under a hurricane warning; Americans are being warned not to travel there, and relatives of US government personnel may leave, the State Department said.
“The National Hurricane Center is confident that Bermuda will experience tropical storm winds,” Shackelford said. “Once Fiona has passed Bermuda, the storm is expected to hit Nova Scotia by Saturday afternoon.”
In the Canadian province, residents should prepare for tropical stormy or even hurricane-like conditions as early as Friday night by securing outdoor items, pruning trees, charging cell phones and preparing an emergency kit, said Jason Mew, director of the emergency management office. Shelters will be open to the homeless and other needy, he said.
Meanwhile, a developing storm poised to be named Hermine could become a monstrous threat to the US Gulf Coast by next week, now forecasted models show.
In Puerto Rico, where Fiona caused flooding and a power outage across the island when it made landfall on Sunday, more than 450,000 people had no or interrupted water supplies, and 1 million homes and businesses were still without power on Wednesday, according to the emergency portal system. from the government.
In the Dominican Republic, where Fiona made landfall early Monday, more than a million customers had no running water and nearly 350,000 homes and businesses were dark on Wednesday, said Major General Juan Méndez García, director of the country’s emergency center.
More than 600 homes were destroyed and some communities were cut off from aid, he said.
When Fiona hit the Dominican Republic in the middle of the night, Iverice Viera stormed into the water up to her waist to wake her neighbors in Higüey, she said.
She is now trying to dry out her things.
“The rooms are empty. I had to throw away a lot. There is no electricity or water to wash anything,” Viera told DailyExpertNews en Español.
Puerto Rico, meanwhile, made some progress on relief: President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for the U.S. territory on Wednesday, FEMA said. The move will give residents access to grants for temporary housing and home repairs, as well as low-interest loans to cover uninsured property losses.
“This ensures that our people have access to additional help from FEMA to recover from the damage caused by this event,” Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi said in a statement. tweet.
But crews have faced setbacks in restoring power. Equipment issues have temporarily disabled offline lines that are expected to be repaired, Josué Colón, executive director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, said Wednesday.
Fiona almost exactly five years after Hurricane Maria plunged the island into a prolonged blackout.
Across the island, more than 800 people were housed in dozens of shelters on Wednesday, according to Puerto Rico’s housing secretary William Rodriguez.
The New York City mayor has sent city agency staff to Puerto Rico to help officials assess the damage.
“The team will include representatives from New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM), the New York City Department of Buildings, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and the New York City Department of Design and Construction,” a press release said. from the mayor’s office.
Fiona also threatened parts of the Turks and Caicos Islands on Tuesday, with many parts of British territory still without power on Wednesday, including Grand Turk, South Caicos, Salt Cay, North Caicos and Middle Caicos, said Anya Williams, acting governor of the islands.
Officials there were relieved that no one had died in the storm, they said as they went to visit islands and make repairs.