Puerto Rico

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 ...

The storm also damaged roads, uprooted trees and destroyed at least one bridge. It could threaten the far southern end of the Bahamas on Tuesday. “I don’t trust them,” she said, referring to the government. “Even the birds have realized what is coming, and they’re preparing.” Puerto Rico’s largest public hospital was running on generators and at some centers, those had failed. President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in the U.S.

Tropical Storm Fiona became the third hurricane of the Atlantic season on Sunday as it approached the island of Puerto Rico, where it threatened heavy rains ...

National Hurricane Center (NHC). On the forecast track, the center of Fiona will approach Puerto Rico during the morning today and may move near or over Puerto Rico this afternoon. Fiona becomes a hurricane as it approaches Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic

Hurricane Fiona made landfall in the Dominican Republic early Monday morning, packing sustained winds of 90 mph, heavy rain and flooding.

"We were much more prepared," she said. "We have four warehouses now strategically located throughout the island which includes commodities, exponentially larger supplies than in the past. "The biggest concern is the life and safety of residents," she said, urging everyone to follow the direction of local officials.

The hurricane unleashed landslides amid lashing rain that could reach historic levels, with up to 30 inches possible in the east and south.

It could threaten the far southern end of the Bahamas on Tuesday. President Biden declared a state of emergency in the U.S. The storm also damaged roads, uprooted trees and destroyed at least one bridge. Fiona was centered 50 miles southeast of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph on Sunday night, according to the U.S. It was moving to the northwest at 9 mph. Large landslides also were reported, with water rushing down big slabs of broken asphalt and into gullies.

Parts of Puerto Rico could see up to 25 inches of rain as Tropical Storm Fiona approaches. CNN Weather. CNN —. Fiona ...

Further strengthening is expected, and the official forecast track indicates Fiona could be a major hurricane by Wednesday as it tracks to the east of the Bahamas and toward Bermuda. The Dominican Republic's northern coast, from Cabo Frances Viejo west to Puerto Plata, are under a hurricane watch Sunday morning, meaning hurricane conditions are possible in the next 48 hours. "Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours while Fiona moves near Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and over the southwestern Atlantic," the hurricane center said. Around 120 shelters with 25,000 cots have been opened for those in need, the governor said. warned of life-threatening to catastrophic flooding, issuing flash flood warnings for south and east Puerto Rico, including Ponce and Yabucoa, through at least mid-afternoon. Pedro Pierluisi warned the storm "will cover our entire island" in a news conference Sunday, noting winds and rain bands from the storm may extend outward up to 100 to 120 miles. A hurricane warning -- indicating hurricane conditions are expected -- was issued for Puerto Rico, including the islands of Vieques and Culebra, and later expanded to include the eastern Dominican Republic from Cabo Caucedo to Cabo Frances Viejo. "Hurricane conditions are expected on Puerto Rico today, and are expected in portions of the eastern Dominican Republic tonight and Monday." "These rains will produce life-threatening flash flooding and urban flooding across Puerto Rico and the eastern Dominican Republic, along with mudslides and landslides in areas of higher terrain," the hurricane center said. Very heavy rainfall of 12 to 16 inches is forecast across a wide swath of Puerto Rico, with most of the rain expected Sunday, and isolated locations across southern and eastern Puerto Rico could see up to 25 inches, per the hurricane center. The hurricane -- the third of the "This is impacting us now," Pierluisi said.

The storm moved west into the Dominican Republic, as conditions in Puerto Rico remained too dangerous for repair workers early Monday.

Hurricane Maria had a deep, lasting impact on Puerto Rico, with unreliable electricity remaining a mainstay of life on the island. That storm caused the deaths of The rain will be heavy enough to produce what the National Weather Service called “life-threatening and catastrophic flooding” along with mudslides and landslides across Puerto Rico on Monday. Several large landslides were reported, and a bridge washed away in the central town of Utuado. But “we are still expecting flash flooding at least for the rest of the day today, and that might be extended for the next day,” she said. But it was immediately clear that the island would have a difficult recovery process, with as much as 30 inches of rain in some places.

The big picture: The storm threatens to dump more than two feet of rain in Puerto Rico, leading to "catastrophic" flooding, the National Hurricane Center warns.

What's next: Fiona is expected to continue to intensify once it moves northwest of Puerto Rico and north of the Dominican Republic. Driving the news: Typhoon Nanmadol is forecast to make landfall on Sunday. Threat level: The storm is likely to bring torrential rains to Puerto Rico through Monday, with a widespread area of 12 to 16 inches of rain expected. territory, where the impending flooding and high winds could imperil the island's power grid, which is still recovering from 2017's [Typhoon Nanmadol to slam Japan, may be one of country's most expensive storms](/2022/09/17/japan-typhoon-nanmadol-evacuations-flooding) It could bring as much as 20 inches of rainfall in just 24 hours to certain areas, Video from social media shows torrents of water washing away bridges, power lines and other infrastructure in southwestern Puerto Rico. Hurricane-force winds have taken out the island's fragile power grid. Tropical Storm Fiona is expected to become a hurricane and could dump as much as 20 inches of rain on Puerto Rico beginning Saturday, the Japan is urging hundreds of thousands of residents to evacuate ahead of the landfall of a typhoon that could be one of the most destructive and expensive storms to hit the country in years. - The storm is a Category 1 hurricane and is expected to remain so through landfall in Puerto Rico. The big picture: The storm threatens to dump more than two feet of rain in Puerto Rico, leading to "catastrophic" flooding, the National Hurricane Center warns.

The National Hurricane Center warned that both Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic should expect “catastrophic flooding” from the slow-moving storm.

Photo editing by Troy Witcher. “It breaks my heart to see Puerto Rico’s people suffer all the time,” Ferré said. “It’s so normalized and it shouldn’t be. “This isn’t a one-time occurrence. local time, according to the National Hurricane Center. Stephanie Rojas/AP

Hurricane Fiona made landfall in Puerto Rico on Sunday as a Category 1 storm, knocking out power and bringing floods. Follow our live updates and hurricane ...

more frequently in recent years](https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/09/29/record-us-hurricane-landfalls-climate/?itid=lb_more-on-hurricanes_7). And last summer alone, [nearly 1 in 3 Americans experienced a weather disaster](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/09/04/climate-disaster-hurricane-ida/?itid=lb_more-on-hurricanes_8). [seven safety tips to make sure you’re ready](https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2022/05/03/hurricane-safety-prepare-noaa/?itid=lb_more-on-hurricanes_4). [an above-average season of hurricane activity](https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2022/05/24/noaa-atlantic-hurricane-outlook-2022/?itid=lb_more-on-hurricanes_1). Read more about [how climate change is fueling severe weather events](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2020/10/22/climate-curious-disasters-climate-change/?itid=lb_more-on-hurricanes_9) history](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/harvard-study-estimates-thousands-died-in-puerto-rico-due-to-hurricane-maria/2018/05/29/1a82503a-6070-11e8-a4a4-c070ef53f315_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_5), Hurricane Maria, which left Puerto Rico in the [dark for months](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/national/puerto-rico-life-without-power/?itid=lk_inline_manual_5) and killed more than 3,000 people.

Luma, the company that operates power transmission and distribution, said bad weather, including winds of 80 mph, had disrupted transmission lines, ...

territory as the eye of the storm approached the island's southwest corner. Fiona was centered 35 miles southeast of Samana in the Dominican Republic, with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph on Monday morning, according to the U.S. Puerto Rico's health centers were running on generators - and some of those had failed. "Heavy rainfall and catastrophic flooding" continued across the majority of Puerto Rico. That hurricane caused nearly 3,000 deaths and destroyed the power grid. No deaths had been reported, but authorities in the U.S.

Hurricane Fiona has reached the shores of the Dominican Republic on Monday morning, after causing flash flooding, mudslides and an island-wide blackout in ...

Pedro Pierluisi said he could not give an estimate of when power might be fully up and running. But island officials have said that some roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been damaged or washed away as a result of the downpour. It had maximum sustained winds of 90 mph and was moving northwest at 8 mph. Stephanie Rojas/AP hide caption Stephanie Rojas/AP toggle caption As of Monday morning, the category 1 hurricane was 35 miles southeast of Samaná, a coastal town in the northeast Dominican Republic, according to the National Hurricane Center.

More than 2000 people were in shelters, the governor said, and the rain will continue for another day, weakening infrastructure damaged five years ago by ...

In 2017, the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center began issuing storm surge watches and warnings along the East Coast and the Gulf Coast, and, in 2019, to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Some areas along the coast experienced a storm surge as high as 14 feet, [according to a report from the center](https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL092021_Ida.pdf). And, before that, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 produced a [storm surge 25 to 28 feet](https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/us/hurricane-katrina-the-storm-surge-wall-of-water-set-a-record.html?) above normal tide levels and helped cause about $75 billion in damage in the New Orleans area and along the Mississippi coast. A change in a storm’s track, even of just 20 miles, can make a difference, he said, and every mile of coastline along the Eastern United States and the Gulf of Mexico is susceptible to storm surge from tropical cyclones. [according to the National Hurricane Center](https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/surge/). The storm could bring four to six inches of rain to the British and U.S. There is a “migration of tropical cyclones out of the tropics and toward subtropics and middle latitudes,” Dr. The storm made landfall in the Dominican Republic, meaning the eye of the storm crossed the shoreline, at 3:30 a.m. But storm activity picked up in early September, with [Danielle](https://www.nytimes.com/article/tropical-storm-danielle-hurricane.html) and [Earl](https://www.nytimes.com/article/tropical-storm-earl-hurricane.html), which both eventually became hurricanes, forming within a day of each other. Pierluisi said in Spanish, adding that the storm has been one of the most significant to hit since Hurricane Maria devastated it in 2017. Pedro Pierluisi, the governor of Puerto Rico, said at a news conference on Sunday afternoon that the authorities were assessing damage and working to stave off a growing disaster. Most of the island was without electricity, and more than 2,000 people were in shelters, the governor said.

Fiona is pounding the Dominican Republic after thrashing Puerto Rico with torrential rain, catastrophic flooding and an islandwide power outage.

And all of the planning efforts we undertake during those blue skies days can be brought to bear when the rain falls." Eastern parts of the Dominican Republic could also see flooding, mudslides or landslides, the hurricane center said. The complex is the island's most important and stretches across 227 acres, according to the Health Administration of Puerto Rico. , carrying its structure downstream, one video of the dangerous flooding shows. And southern Puerto Rico can expect another 4 to 6 inches of rain or more early this week -- meaning Fiona will leave the island deluged with 12 to 30 inches of rain, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. This time, she said, FEMA plans to implement lessons learned from the 2017 crisis. "Our patients are safe and receiving the medical care they need." "We were much more prepared. Samuel Rivera and his mother Lourdes Rodriguez lived without power for about a year after Maria, Rivera told CNN's Layla Santiago. By late Monday morning, a bit of good news from island's capital: The power system came back up for hospitals in San Juan's medical complex, Puerto Rico Health Secretary Dr. Fiona could dump 12 inches of rain in eastern and northern parts of the country. . That would make Fiona the first major hurricane of the year in the Atlantic, the National Hurricane Center said.

Hurricane Fiona strikes the Dominican Republic, leaving historic rainfall, flooding and an island-wide power outage behind in Puerto Rico. Updates.

At landfall in Puerto Rico Sunday, Fiona was a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph. Fiona was centered 10 miles southeast of Samana, Dominican Republic, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph by midday Monday, according to the U.S. “Puerto Ricans have faced a constant state of emergency over the five last years," said Allison Dworschak, leader of the agency's Caribbean Resilience Initiative. Hundreds of water rescues were underway and widespread evacuations were ordered in the U.S. Ada Vivian Román said the storm knocked down trees and fences in her hometown of Toa Alta. It was moving to the northwest at 8 mph. Mercy Corps says it has been helping people on the island better prepare for disasters by transforming local community centers into "resilience hubs" with different combinations of solar energy, potable water storage, communication systems, emergency kits and disaster preparedness training. The first signs of recovery were beginning to emerge, however. Hours of rain were still to come. The National Weather Service in San Juan urged residents to move to higher ground "immediately." The entire power grid went down on Sunday, putting all 1.5 million power customers in the dark. Roads were torn apart, and in the central town of Utuado, a bridge installed by the National Guard after Maria washed away.

The storm is wreaking havoc on the island's already fragile power grid. Heavy rainfall and catastrophic flooding is continuing across the island.

Pierluisi said the restoration of power will not be like what happened after Hurricane Maria in 2017 and that it will be a "matter of days," not months, to get the grid at least partially up and running. "We still struggle from the consequences of Maria and it's kind of difficult knowing we're going to probably have to start over again," he said. As of Sunday evening, the storm was centered 45 miles west of Mayagüez, a community on Puerto Rico's western coast, according to the National Hurricane Center. This is considered the first real test of that promise. It was not long ago when the island's power grid was devastated by Hurricane Maria — a category 4 storm that caused about 3,000 deaths in 2017. The government's response plan now included making sure that backup generators are working at hospitals and stocking warehouses with food and cots and other essential supplies. Pedro Pierluisi said the damage on the island is "catastrophic in many areas," calling it a "very delicate and sad situation." As of 2:00 a.m. Heavy rainfall and catastrophic flooding was continuing across the island Sunday evening, according to the National Hurricane Center. Rodríguez González said Maria devastated his family's home and businesses. Dozens of roads have been closed because of landslides, fallen trees or being washed out. It is now making its way toward the Dominican Republic.

The latest: The hurricane strengthened before making landfall in the Dominican Republic to the south-southwest of Punta Cana on Monday morning, according to the ...

[Hurricane Fiona](https://www.axios.com/2022/09/18/hurricane-fiona-flooding-power-grid-puerto-rico), a Category 1 storm, bears down on the island, Gov. [Puerto Rico loses power across entire island as Hurricane Fiona nears](/2022/09/18/puerto-rico-loses-power-hurricane-fiona) - "The current weather conditions are extremely dangerous and are hampering our ability to fully assess the situation," it continued. at around 8 a.m., "especially across the southern and western half of Puerto Rico." [to Puerto Rico](https://www.axios.com/2022/09/18/puerto-rico-loses-power-hurricane-fiona), knocking out power to the [entire island](https://twitter.com/DavidBegnaud/status/1571557124819263494?s=20&t=7NmbGHMOU0ybnmsQNqLw0g). and was moving toward the northwest at around 8 miles per hour. [Hurricane Fiona leaves Puerto Rico in the dark](https://www.axios.com/2022/09/19/hurricane-fiona-leaves-puerto-rico-in-the-dark) and was moving northwestward at around 8 miles per hour. - Officials said at least one person died from the outage. [NHC](https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT2+shtml/191458.shtml). [National Hurricane Center](https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2022/al07/al072022.discus.020.shtml). [Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/19/hurricane-fiona-puerto-rico-live-updates/#link-4MH4N24MY5H2RK4S3GPWOGSA5M).

Hurricane Fiona roared over the Dominican Republic on Monday, a day after knocking out power to all of Puerto Rico and causing damage the governor described ...

The storm was still expected to unleash torrential rain across the U.S. Authorities reported no deaths directly from Fiona, but Puerto Rico officials said it was too early to know the full scope of damage. The storm also took out a bridge and flooded an airport runway.

The island's electrical grid has been crippled by a series of storms and other woes, including mismanagement.

Demonstrators marched in San Juan, the capital, in one of many [protests](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/us/puerto-rico-electricity-protest.html) over the years triggered by the island’s electricity problems. [to live through rolling blackouts](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/us/puerto-rico-electricity-protest.html). [woes and $9 billion in debt](https://apnews.com/article/caribbean-economy-puerto-rico-pedro-pierluisi-c7472f4e779e797b502c95cadb59d124). Puerto Rico is paying the new company a fixed annual fee of $115 million. [Wayne Stensby, LUMA’s chief executive](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/10/us/puerto-rico-luma-stensby-arrest.html), [blamed the system’s problems](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/us/puerto-rico-electricity-protest.html) on a backlog of outages, a cyberattack and resistance from some PREPA employees. It hired Whitefish Energy Holdings, a small and inexperienced contractor linked to the Trump administration’s interior secretary at the time, and FEMA called in the Army Corps of Engineers, which had never rebuilt a major grid after a storm, [LUMA Energy](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/10/us/puerto-rico-luma-stensby-arrest.html), a private Canadian-American consortium, to operate the transmission and distribution system and handle reconstruction. [earmarked about $10 billion](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/us/puerto-rico-electricity-protest.html) to rebuild the system. On Monday, like a recurring nightmare, [Hurricane Irma ](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/10/us/irma-puerto-rico-infrastructure.html)and [Hurricane Maria](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/us/puerto-rico-electricity-protest.html) struck Puerto Rico within weeks of each other, laying bare the tenuous state of the island’s infrastructure. [as a New York Times investigation in 2018 showed](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/06/us/puerto-rico-power-grid-hurricanes.html). [80 percent of the system](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/06/us/puerto-rico-power-grid-hurricanes.html), an intricate network of 2,400 miles of high-voltage transmission lines, some of it threaded along mountains, and 30,000 miles of lower-voltage distribution lines that go to neighborhoods and homes.

One day after Hurricane Fiona made landfall and Puerto Rico sustained an islandwide blackout, emergency response efforts are being slowed by intense ...

[Mercedita International Airport](https://twitter.com/PuertosPR/status/1571825356528812035) remains closed due to flooding. A tropical storm warning was in effect for Puerto Rico, including Vieques and Culebra, and the north coast of the Dominican Republic and southeastern Bahamas. An islandwide blackout was reported about an hour earlier as the hurricane's [eye neared Puerto Rico](https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT2+shtml/181755.shtml)‘s southwestern coast. Most of the nearly 1.5 million power customers in Puerto Rico remain without electricity. While government officials said no hurricane-related deaths have been reported as of Monday morning, a 70-year-old man from the town of Hatillo died from fire-related injuries after a generator he was using exploded. [National Hurricane Center.](https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT2+shtml/191154.shtml) [resumed operations Monday morning](https://www.facebook.com/AeropuertoSJU/videos/415111860731050) but some airlines have opted to cancel some of their flights in and out of Puerto Rico. [Category 1 hurricane](https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT2+shtml/181452.shtml) ravaged Puerto Rico, one in the town of Utuado and another one in Arecibo. [PREPS page](https://www.preps.pr.gov/). Pedro Pierluisi said in “We do need help with first responders,” he said, adding that New York Gov. [Telemundo Puerto Rico ](https://www.telemundopr.com/noticias/puerto-rico/reportan-persona-arrastrada-por-rio-en-comerio-3/2395048/)reported.

Fiona has had such a catastrophic impact partly for reasons that long preceded the storm's landfall. Here are three major ones. The Trump administration ...

[stronger on average globally](https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/101/3/bams-d-18-0194.1.xml). [extensive relief work](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/09/20/us/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-housing.html) in the storm’s immediate aftermath, federal funds for longer-term recovery on the island became snarled in [political squabbling in Congress](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/01/us/politics/puerto-rico-aid.html). FEMA today has twice the number of generators on Puerto Rico, nine times the water, 10 times the meals and eight times the number of tarps compared with 2017, Ms. [Hurricane Fiona](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/09/19/us/hurricane-fiona-puerto-rico) dropped 30 inches of rain on the mountainous island, causing widespread damage to homes and infrastructure. Higher temperatures are also causing more water to evaporate from the oceans, and warmer air holds more moisture. There might be [slightly fewer](https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2019GL086930), scientific models predict. President Biden [authorized](https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20220918/president-joseph-r-biden-jr-approves-emergency-declaration-puerto-rico) the Federal Emergency Management Agency to mobilize and coordinate aid. [nearly 3,000 people](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/us/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-deaths.html?module=inline). Currie said. A large majority of this spending — 81 percent — has gone to emergency relief, such as debris removal, Mr. The Trump administration also [placed restrictions](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/01/climate/puerto-rico-maria-federal-aid.html) on portions of the island’s aid out of concerns that the money would be mismanaged or squandered. It took [11 months](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/14/us/puerto-rico-electricity-power.html) to restore power to all customers in the territory — a stretch, combined with that in the U.S.

Hurricane Fiona slashed Puerto Rico with 85 mph winds and 16 inches of rain, knocking out power to the entire island. Thousands of miles away, Typhoon Merbok ...

The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small. The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. Trained Red Cross disaster workers will help with damage assessment when it is safe and are working with officials to determine what help is needed. YOU CAN HELP people affected by disasters like storms and countless other crises by making a gift to Red Cross Disaster Relief. Communities have been identified that need assistance and Red Cross teams are working with community leaders to provide help where it is needed most. Disaster workers from out of state arrived in Anchorage last week and more Red Cross teams are on their way to support this operation. Prior to Hurricane Fiona making landfall, the Red Cross prepositioned blood products to support hospitals in Puerto Rico. FIONA Red Cross disaster teams are in Puerto Rico and nearby, poised to resume relief services when it is safe do so. The Red Cross urges those in non-impacted areas to give blood and platelets by visiting The Red Cross is launching relief responses to both storms. Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico with 75 mph winds and heavy rain, knocking out power to the entire island.

FOX Weather Correspondent Nicole Valdes breaks down Hurricane Maria and it's aftermath and how it continues to impact present day Puerto Rico. Hurricane Fiona ...

[landslides](https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/bryan-norcross-fiona-continues-inundate-puerto-rico-torrential-rain-pounding-dominican-republic) have occurred throughout parts of the country, taking out homes, businesses and some types of infrastructure. The National Weather Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico, reported the heaviest rain had fallen in the southeastern part of the island as of Monday morning. Fiona sent 1.5 million into darkness on Sunday, with about 100,000 having their power restored by Monday morning. - Image 6 of 6 [Ruin and Resurrection: The Fury of Hurricane Maria](https://www.foxweather.com/extreme-weather/geraldo-rivera-nicole-valdes-hurricane-maria-america-reports)." Rain was expected to continue through Tuesday. - Image 5 of 6 - Image 4 of 6 - Image 3 of 6 - Image 2 of 6 - Image 1 of 6

The hurricane winds that knocked out power to the entire island of Puerto Rico over the weekend encountered an electrical grid that experts liken to a house ...

“But we are committed to transforming the electric system in Puerto Rico. The public utility, which still controls power generation in Puerto Rico, is in bankruptcy and helped drive the U.S. The towers stand atop steep hillsides, looking over ravines, and continue to the populous north to where most of the energy is consumed. After Fiona, winds knocked out power to at least four of the island’s major transmission lines. One of the major vulnerabilities of Puerto Rico’s electrical system is the cross-country transmission system. Luma spokesman Hugo Sorrentini said the company’s crews have been hampered by extensive flooding across the island but that some 1,500 utility workers are “ready to respond” to the outages. Puerto Rico’s fragile power grid has been at the center of recriminations from protesters, customers and utility union members who have called on Pierluisi to cancel the government’s contract with Luma Energy. The U.S.-Canadian power consortium has struggled more than a year after taking over operations of Puerto Rico’s transmission and distribution lines with public perception, frequent brownouts and at least one total blackout. Luma Energy officials on Monday said power has been restored to just more than 100,000 people by Monday afternoon, including in the San Juan metropolitan area, at the city’s main hospital campus and the island’s largest airport, but the company had yet to offer a detailed assessment of the damage. The storm’s outer bands continue to drop copious amounts of rain and threaten to swell waterways already breaching their banks and causing landslides in the mountains. And a major plan to modernize the island’s electricity system, funded with billions from the U.S. Luma Energy, the private consortium that was hired in 2020 to handle transmission, has failed to satisfy critics, as power outages have increased in duration this year even apart from destructive storms, according to a report [last month ](https://apnews.com/article/puerto-rico-pedro-pierluisi-quanta-services-inc-climate-and-environment-5049018d7ae13c5fe09a6b054c2d177d)by the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau.

Hurricane Fiona knocked out electrical power to the entire commonwealth of Puerto Rico starting on Sunday, reviving memories of Hurricane Maria, ...

In early 2020, two of the island's largest power plants were damaged in a 6.4 magnitude earthquake. Puerto Rico has to import all its oil, coal and natural gas as it does not produce any fossil fuels. The island also endured a power outage in April that knocked out electricity for a third of homes and businesses. Hurricane Maria decimated the island's electrical system when it struck in late September 2017, mainly by knocking out transmission lines. PREPA had been long criticized for inadequate investment in its power system and failure to establish back-ups to maintain power during disasters. In June 2021, Puerto Rico privatized the grid by engaging LUMA Energy to operate the system, even though PREPA still owned the infrastructure.

Hurricane Fiona is the latest disaster to hit Puerto Rico and its beleaguered electric grid. The Category 1 storm pummeled Puerto Rico on Sunday, ...

[a long history](https://www.eenews.net/articles/how-a-stubborn-utility-and-aging-grid-added-to-islands-woes/) of grid crises and varied attempts to fix the system. Beto O’Rourke (D) has seized on the state’s beleaguered power grid as a reason to oust Republican Gov. The science, policy and politics driving the energy transition can feel miles away. In his bid to turn the Texas governor’s mansion blue, former Texas Rep. No one at the site was hurt. Send your tips, comments, questions to [[email protected].](mailto:[email protected]) But progressives, environmentalists and many other Democrats continue to line up in opposition. More than half of the island’s 78 municipalities are coastal, A lack of swift federal action after previous disasters has only made the island more vulnerable. (1.3 million remained without power as of Monday.) But the island’s new grid operator, LUMA Energy LLC, A series of earthquakes in 2019 likewise devastated large swaths of the Caribbean island.

Puerto Rico residents' anger and frustration at the state of their crumbling electric grid was building long before Hurricane Fiona triggered an island-wide ...

That hearing focused on the rebuilding of the power grid and other essential infrastructure in the five years since Maria hit both Puerto Rico and the U.S. “The problem LUMA is struggling with is that the outages are longer,” he said. He added that the island has seen improvements in service and safety under LUMA. She called the road to recovery “a journey.” The island’s non-voting Republican congressional representative, Jenniffer González-Colón, questioned officials from FEMA and LUMA Energy during a hearing Thursday about how much of the billions the federal agency has obligated for Puerto Rico’s recovery has actually gone out the door. Energy experts and activists also fault Puerto Rico’s government and the territory’s Financial Oversight and Management Board, which Congress created to oversee and approve Puerto Rico’s budget. Maria, the strongest hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in nearly a century, arrived just two weeks after Hurricane Irma, causing widespread power outages and water service interruptions. While the Federal Emergency Management Agency has set aside billions of dollars for reconstruction of Puerto Rico’s power grid following those two storms, that money has trickled out slowly. LUMA, a joint venture of Canadian utility holding company ATCO and the U.S. Guaynabo, a suburb of San Juan in the northern part of the island, did not have electricity or water service. “It’s kind of a reckoning and it was a bad one.” A protest against LUMA in August led to a clash where police pepper-sprayed demonstrators and journalists near the governor’s residence.

Hurricane Fiona, a category 1 storm, made landfall in Puerto Rico over the weekend, causing catastrophic flooding and leaving much of the island without ...

Our work centers on advancing a community-driven solar and storage project on the island of Culebra and supporting a range of partners who are driving systemic change to the energy system across Puerto Rico. Environmental Defense Fund is committed to continue working with communities to create these opportunities and help Puerto Rico thrive and prosper long into the future.” Environmental Defense Fund seeks to identify effective and equitable energy solutions that can bring clean, community-centered electricity to Puerto Rico and can meet the daily needs of its residents, while making the island more resilient to climate change.

More than 837000 customers have been left with no access to clean running water since Hurricane Fiona struck the island on Sunday.

Pagán Crespo explained that in addition to the power outages, water supplies have been severely impacted by the flooding and surges of Puerto Rico's rivers. The Associated Press reported that a month after the storm, 20 of the island's 51 sewage treatment plants remained out of service. Meanwhile, Environmental Protection Agency officials could not inspect some of the island's highly toxic Superfund sites that were knocked out of service. [1.2 million clients](https://www.acueductospr.com/misi%C3%B3n-visi%C3%B3n-y-objetivos), which means only 34% of households currently have clean running water. "We have 112 filtration plants, and most of them are supplied from rivers. That means no clean water for drinking, bathing or flushing toilets.

Exactly five years after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, yet another catastrophic storm is testing the federal government's capacity to mount a ...

The primary impulse from the White House and government emergency management agencies is always to alleviate casualties and loss of life from a storm. The proportion of high-intensity hurricanes has increased due to warmer global temperatures, according to a UN climate report released last month. But former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said that the lesson of previous natural disasters was that returning things to how they were would not work. Trump also reacted to criticism by lashing out at the media and local officials -- in a preview of how he would prioritize his political aspirations over sound disaster management during the coronavirus pandemic. Because the climate has changed -- how we've been rebuilding and developing hasn't caught up yet," he added. As President Joe Biden flew back from London and the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, he called Pierluisi from Air Force One to vow strong support. Ever since Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast in 2005, and exposed a disastrous disconnect between the George W. Although they often seem ignored in Washington, Puerto Ricans are US citizens living on a US island territory and are entitled to the federal government's assistance. At least two people in Puerto Rico died as a result of Fiona, a spokesman for Pierluisi told CNN. Pedro Pierluisi told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Monday night that while most of the damage five years ago was caused by raging winds, the problem this time is the volume of rainfall. Still Pierluisi added: "We are much better prepared now than Puerto Rico was five years ago when we got hit by the Hurricane Maria. "It has been catastrophic rain that just won't stop," Robert Little, the Federal Emergency Management Agency coordinating officer on the island, told CNN's Erin Burnett, as the government's relief effort began to accelerate.

Hurricane Fiona knocked out electrical power to the entire commonwealth of Puerto Rico starting on Sunday.

In early 2020, two of the island's largest power plants were damaged in a 6.4 magnitude earthquake. The island also endured a power outage in April that knocked out electricity for a third of homes and businesses. Puerto Rico has to import all its oil, coal and natural gas as it does not produce any fossil fuels. A study from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) found that service restoration times and voltage fluctuations increased after privatization largely due to a shortage of experienced workers. In June 2021, Puerto Rico privatized the grid by engaging LUMA Energy to operate the system, even though PREPA still owned the infrastructure. PREPA had been long criticized for inadequate investment in its power system and failure to establish back-ups to maintain power during disasters.