The storm is threatening to dump “historic” levels of rain.The storm is threatening to dump “historic” levels of rain.
The eye of newly formed Hurricane Fiona neared Puerto Rico’s south coast on Sunday — already causing an island-wide power blackout and threatening to dump “historic” levels of rain.
Forecasters said the downpour was expected to produce landslides and catastrophic flooding, with up to 25 inches possible in isolated areas.
“It’s time to take action and be concerned,” said Nino Correa, Puerto Rico’s emergency management commissioner.
Fiona was centered 25 miles southwest of Ponce, Puerto Rico, on Sunday morning, and its clouds covered the entire island. It had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph and was moving west-northwest at 8 mph.
Tropical storm-force winds extended as far as 140 miles from Fiona’s center.
President Joe Biden 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 largest public hospital was running on generators and at some centers, those had failed. Health Secretary Carlos Mellado said crews were working to repair generators as soon as possible at the Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Fiona hit just two days before the anniversary of Hurricane Maria, a devastating Category 4 storm that struck on Sept. 20, 2017, destroying the island’s power grid and causing nearly 3,000 deaths.
More than 3,000 homes still have only a blue tarp as a roof, and infrastructure remains weak.
Luma, the company that operates power transmission and distribution, had warned warned of “widespread service interruptions” and on Sunday the governor announced that all power service had been knocked out.
