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Hurricane Fiona unleashed catastrophic damage and destruction as the deadly storm barreled across the Caribbean over the weekend before eventually making two landfalls in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
Major flooding caused by Hurricane Fiona’s torrential rain is being blamed for at least one death on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, according to one local official.
The island’s Basse-Terre district was particularly hard hit, with at least one man being swept away to his death by raging floodwaters.
Hurricane Fiona’s fury also led to a complete failure of Puerto Rico’s power grid and plunged the island’s nearly 1.5 million customers into darkness as the tropical cyclone slowly spun just to the south before making landfall Sunday afternoon.
In a tweet, Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi confirmed the power grid failed. Crews have since been out working to make repairs in an attempt to get the grid back online.
As of Monday morning, about 100,000 customers had their power restored as the effects of Hurricane Fiona continued to be felt across Puerto Rico.
Hurricane Fiona made landfall in southwestern Puerto Rico near the town of Punta Tocon on Sunday at 3:20 p.m. Eastern, but the hurricane’s effects were felt across the entire island.
At landfall, Hurricane Fiona was a Category 1 hurricane with 85-mph winds, but gusts higher than 100 mph were reported as well.
However, the island’s residents began experiencing the effects of Hurricane Fiona well before the storm’s landfall.
Heavy rain led to major flooding across the region, as well as mudslides and landslides.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, several communities have reported rain totals higher than 2 feet.
Lago Cerrillos, which is to the north of Ponce, picked up more than 25 inches of rain in two days.
Ponce also reported a rain total higher than two feet.
Other impressive rain totals over the past two days were reported in Beatriz, with 20.12 inches and 18.52 inches in Coamo.
Dramatic photos posted to Twitter by the Puerto Rico National Guard showed rescue attempts in areas of the island that had been ravaged by flooding.
