AFP UK

A flooded street in Nagua, Dominican Republic, on September 19, 2022

Hurricane Fiona dumped torrential rain on the Dominican Republic on Monday after triggering major flooding in Puerto Rico and widespread power blackouts in both Caribbean islands.

The stormed strengthened to a Category Two hurricane late Monday, said the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), which forecast continuing rains and possible new catastrophic floods during the night in both Puerto Rico and in the eastern Dominican Republic.

Several roads were flooded or cut by falling trees or electric poles around the Dominican resort of Punta Cana where the electricity was knocked out, an AFP journalist on the scene said.

President Luis Abinader declared three eastern provinces to be disaster zones: La Altagracia, home to the tourist resort Punta Cana, El Seibo and Hato Mayor.

Footage from local media showed residents of the east coast town of Higuey waist deep in water, trying to salvage personal belongings.

With 18 of the island’s 32 provinces on red alert, nearly 800 people were sheltering in safe areas, according to emergency services.

Fiona was packing maximum sustained winds of 100 miles per hour (155 kilometers per hour), according to the NHC which expected it to strengthen Tuesday to a Category Three storm — making it this season’s first major Atlantic hurricane.

After passing close to Turks and Caicos late Monday or early Tuesday, the storm is expected to track north later in the week, out into the ocean — although it could come perilously close to tiny Bermuda.

In Puerto Rico — where the rain was still beating down — Governor Pedro Pierluisi said the storm had caused catastrophic damage since Sunday, with some areas facing for more than 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rainfall.

Nelly Marrero made her way Monday afternoon back to her home in Toa Baja, in the north of the US island territory, to clear out the mud that surged inside after she evacuated a day earlier.

“Thanks to God, I have food and water,” she told AFP by telephone — having lost everything when Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico five years ago.

Hearing the flood alert ring out, Marrero headed out into the rain with her daughter and three infant grandchildren, seeking refuge at a relative’s house.

“It was very difficult with the babies — they were crying, they didn’t understand what was going on,” she said.

Across Puerto Rico, Fiona caused landslides, blocked roads and toppled trees, power lines and bridges, Pierluisi said.

A man was killed as an indirect result of the power blackout — burned to death while trying to fill his generator, according to authorities.

Fernando Vera, a resident of the town of Utuado, told US broadcaster NPR his family has never fully recovered from the devastation of Maria — one of two hurricanes that hit the island in 2017, along with Irma.

“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,” Vera said.

The governor said Fiona caused “unprecedented” flooding.

“Unfortunately, we expect more rain throughout the island today and tomorrow,” he said.

Most of Puerto Rico, an island of three million people, was without power, but electricity had been restored for about 100,000 customers on Monday, the governor said.

The hurricane has also left around 196,000 people without drinking water as a result of power outages and flooded rivers, officials said.

– ‘Start over again’ –

Fiona made landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category One hurricane, at the lowest end of the five-tier Saffir-Simpson scale.

Before that, the storm had caused one fatality — a man killed after his house was swept away by flooding in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, when Fiona was still classified as a tropical storm.

US President Joe Biden has declared a state of emergency for Puerto Rico, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance.

The former Spanish colony became a US territory in the late 19th century before gaining the status of associated free state in 1950.

After years of financial woes and recession, Puerto Rico in 2017 declared the largest bankruptcy ever by a local US administration.

Later that year, the double hit from Irma and Maria added to the misery, devastating the electrical grid on the island — which has suffered from major infrastructure problems for years.

The grid was privatized in June 2021 in an effort to resolve the problem of blackouts, but the issue has persisted, and the entire island lost power earlier this year.

bur/jh/dw

A flooded street in Nagua, Dominican Republic, on September 19, 2022

Hurricane Fiona dumped torrential rain on the Dominican Republic on Monday after triggering major flooding in Puerto Rico and widespread power blackouts in both Caribbean islands.

Several roads were flooded or cut by falling trees or electric poles around the Dominican resort of Punta Cana where the electricity was knocked out, an AFP journalist on the scene said.

Footage from local media showed residents of the east coast town of Higuey waist deep in water, trying to salvage personal belongings.

With 16 of the island’s 32 provinces on red alert, nearly 800 people were sheltering in “safe areas,” according to emergency services.

Fiona was packing maximum sustained winds of 100 miles per hour (155 kilometers per hour), according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) which expects it to strengthen Tuesday to a Category Three storm — making it this season’s first major Atlantic hurricane.

After passing close to Turks and Caicos late Monday or early Tuesday, the storm is expected to track north later in the week, out into the ocean — although it could come perilously close to tiny Bermuda.

In Puerto Rico — where the rain was still beating down — Governor Pedro Pierluisi said the storm had caused “catastrophic” damage since Sunday, with some areas facing for more than 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rainfall.

Nelly Marrero made her way Monday afternoon back to her home in Toa Baja, in the north of the US island territory, to clear out the mud that surged inside after she evacuated a day earlier.

“Thanks to God, I have food and water,” she told AFP by telephone — having lost everything when Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico five years ago.

Hearing the flood alert ring out, Marrero headed out into the rain with her daughter and three infant grandchildren, seeking refuge at a relative’s house.

“It was very difficult with the babies — they were crying, they didn’t understand what was going on,” she said.

Across Puerto Rico, Fiona caused landslides, blocked roads and toppled trees, power lines and bridges, Pierluisi said.

A man was killed as an indirect result of the power blackout — burned to death while trying to fill his generator, according to authorities.

Fernando Vera, a resident of the town of Utuado, told US broadcaster NPR his family has never fully recovered from the devastation of Maria — one of two hurricanes that hit the island in 2017, along with Irma.

“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,” Vera said.

The governor said Fiona caused “unprecedented” flooding.

“Unfortunately, we expect more rain throughout the island today and tomorrow,” he said.

Most of Puerto Rico, an island of three million people, was without power, but electricity had been restored for about 100,000 customers on Monday, the governor said.

The hurricane has also left around 196,000 people without drinking water as a result of power outages and flooded rivers, officials said.

– ‘Start over again’ –

Fiona made landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category One hurricane, at the lowest end of the five-tier Saffir-Simpson scale.

Before that, the storm had caused one fatality — a man killed after his house was swept away by flooding in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, when Fiona was still classified as a tropical storm.

US President Joe Biden has declared a state of emergency for Puerto Rico, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance.

The former Spanish colony became a US territory in the late 19th century before gaining the status of associated free state in 1950.

After years of financial woes and recession, Puerto Rico in 2017 declared the largest bankruptcy ever by a local US administration.

Later that year, the double hit from Irma and Maria added to the misery, devastating the electrical grid on the island — which has suffered from major infrastructure problems for years.

The grid was privatized in June 2021 in an effort to resolve the problem of blackouts, but the issue has persisted, and the entire island lost power earlier this year.

bur/jh/ec

View of a burnt area in the Amazon rainforest in the region of Candeias do Jamari, Rondonia state, northern Brazil, on September 2, 2022

The number of forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon so far this year has already surpassed that for all of 2021, according to official figures released Monday that triggered new alarm for the world’s biggest rainforest.

Satellite monitoring has detected 75,592 fires from January 1 to September 18, already higher than the 75,090 detected for all of last year, according to the Brazilian space agency, INPE.

The latest grim news from the rainforest will likely add to pressure on President Jair Bolsonaro, who is fighting to win reelection next month and faces international criticism over a surge in destruction in the Amazon on his watch.

Since the far-right agribusiness ally took office in January 2019, average annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has increased by 75 percent compared to the previous decade, destroying the forest cover of an area nearly the size of Puerto Rico last year.

Experts say Amazon fires are caused mainly by illegal farmers, ranchers and speculators clearing land and torching the trees.

Despite the advancing destruction, the Bolsonaro administration has slashed budgets for environmental enforcement operations and pushed to open protected Amazon lands to mining.

Greenpeace Brazil spokesman Andre Freitas called the latest figures a “tragedy foretold.”

“After four years of a clear and objective anti-environmental policy by the federal government, we are seeing that as we approach the end of this government’s term — one of the darkest periods ever for the Brazilian environment — land-grabbers and other illegal actors see it as the perfect opportunity to advance on the forest,” he said in a statement.

– Election-year row –

This has been a worrying year for the Amazon, a key buffer against global warming.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon last month was nearly double the figure from August 2021, at 1,661 square kilometers (641 square miles).

And since the burning season began in earnest in August with the arrival of drier weather, the number of fires has soared.

According to INPE figures, there have been multiple days that surpassed the so-called “Day of Fire” on August 10, 2019, when farmers launched a coordinated plan to burn huge amounts of felled rainforest in the northern state of Para.

Then, fires sent thick gray smoke all the way to Sao Paulo, some 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles) away, and triggered a global outcry over images of one of Earth’s most vital resources burning.

Bolsonaro vehemently rejects that criticism, insisting Brazil “protects its forests much better than Europe” and batting away international alarm with the line: “The Amazon belongs to Brazilians, and always will.”

The front-runner vying to unseat him in next month’s presidential elections, leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has vowed to do a better job protecting the Amazon.

Deforestation in Brazil’s 60-percent share of the Amazon basin fell sharply under Lula, from nearly 28,000 square kilometers in 2004 to 7,000 in 2010.

Still, he has faced criticism from environmentalists for his own track record, which notably included the controversial decision to build the massive Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in the Amazon.

And the highest number of fires ever recorded in the Brazilian Amazon by INPE, whose records go back to 1998, was on his watch: 218,637, in 2004.

View of a burnt area in the Amazon rainforest in the region of Candeias do Jamari, Rondonia state, northern Brazil, on September 2, 2022

The number of forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon so far this year has already surpassed that recorded for all of 2021, according to official figures released Monday that triggered new alarm for the world’s biggest rainforest.

Satellite monitoring has detected 75,592 fires from January 1 to September 18 this year, already higher than the 75,090 detected for all of last year, according to the Brazilian space agency, INPE.

The latest grim news from the rainforest will likely add to pressure on President Jair Bolsonaro, who is fighting to win reelection next month and faces international criticism over a surge in destruction in the Amazon on his watch.

Since the far-right agribusiness ally took office in January 2019, average annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has increased by 75 percent compared to the previous decade.

Greenpeace Brazil spokesman Andre Freitas called the latest figures a “tragedy foretold.”

“After four years of a clear and objective anti-environmental policy by the federal government, we are seeing that as this government’s term — one of the darkest periods ever for the Brazilian environment — comes to an end, land-grabbers and other illegal actors see it as the perfect opportunity to advance on the forest,” he said in a statement.

A carpenter ant photographed in the US state of Maryland in May 2021

There are at least 20 quadrillion ants on Earth, according to a new study that says even that staggering figure likely underestimates the total population of the insects, which are an essential part of ecosystems around the world.

Determining the global population of ants is important for measuring the consequences of changes to their habitat — including those caused by climate change.

Ants play a significant role, dispersing seeds, hosting organisms and serving as either predators or prey.

Some studies have already attempted to estimate the global ant population, but they resulted in a far smaller number than 20 quadrillion, which is 20 million billion.

For this new attempt — published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) — researchers analyzed 465 studies that measured the number of ants locally in the field.

The hundreds of studies used two standardized techniques: setting traps that captured ants passing by during a certain period of time, or analyzing the number of ants on a given patch of leaves on the ground.

While surveys have been carried out on all continents, some major regions had little or no data, including central Africa and Asia.

This is why “the true abundance of ants globally is likely to be considerably higher” than estimated, the study says. “It is of utmost importance that we fill these remaining gaps to achieve a comprehensive picture of insect diversity.”

There are more than 15,700 named species and subspecies of ants that are found all over the planet, and probably an equal number that have yet to be described.

But nearly two-thirds of them are found in only two types of ecosystems: tropical forests and savannahs.

Based on the estimated number of ants, their total global biomass is thought to be 12 megatons of dry carbon — more than that of wild birds and mammals combined, and 20 percent of that of humans.

In the future, researchers plan to study the environmental factors influencing population density of the tiny creatures.

A man takes pictures in Nagua in the Dominican Republic as Hurricane Fiona made landfall along the eastern coast

Hurricane Fiona slammed into the Dominican Republic on Monday after knocking out power and causing widespread flooding in Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi said the storm had caused “catastrophic” damage in the US island territory with some areas receiving more than 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rain.

Fiona made landfall on the eastern edge of the Dominican Republic early Monday packing maximum sustained winds of 90 miles per hour (144 kilometers per hour), the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

“Life-threatening flash and urban flooding is likely for eastern portions of the Dominican Republic,” it said.

The Dominican authorities did not provide any immediate updates on the toll from the storm but local press reports said some coastal towns in the east had experienced flooding with roads washed out.

Ahead of Fiona’s arrival in the Dominican Republic, President Luis Abinader suspended work on Monday and the island placed 13 of its 32 provinces on red alert.

In Puerto Rico, Fiona caused landslides, blocked roads and toppled trees, power lines and bridges, Pierluisi said.

Fernando Vera, a resident of the town of Utuado, told US broadcaster NPR his family has never fully recovered from the devastation of Hurricane Maria five years ago.

“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,” Vera said.

The governor said Fiona had caused “unprecedented” flooding, including in areas never previously affected. 

“Unfortunately, we expect more rain throughout the island today and tomorrow,” he said.

Most of Puerto Rico, an island of three million people, was without power, but electricity had been restored for about 100,000 customers on Monday, the governor said.

The hurricane has also left around 196,000 people without drinking water as a result of power outages and flooded rivers, officials said.

– ‘Start over again’ –

Fiona made landfall in Puerto Rico on Sunday afternoon as a Category One hurricane, at the lowest end of the five-tier Saffir-Simpson scale.

The storm has caused one fatality — a man who was killed after his house was swept away by flooding in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, when Fiona was still classified as a tropical storm.

US President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency for Puerto Rico on Sunday, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance.

The former Spanish colony became a US territory in the late 19th century before gaining the status of associated free state in 1950.

After years of financial woes and recession, Puerto Rico in 2017 declared the largest bankruptcy ever by a local US administration.

Later that year, a double hit from hurricanes Irma and Maria added to the misery, devastating the electrical grid on the island — which has suffered from major infrastructure problems for years.

The grid was privatized in June 2021 in an effort to resolve the problem of blackouts, but the issue has persisted, and the entire island lost power earlier this year.

bur/cl/ec

Pedestrians walk past wheat ears art installation on the edge of the Red Square in central Moscow on August 27, 2022

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may cause long-term grain prices to rise seven percent, according to a study on Monday showing how expanded production elsewhere to compensate would lead to higher greenhouse gas emissions.

Russia and Ukraine are global breadbaskets, together exporting about 28 percent of the world’s wheat supply.

Russia’s blockade of Black Sea ports and sanctions on Moscow have caused short-term price surges and triggered fears of an acute hunger crisis. 

Researchers in the United States and Uruguay modelled the likely impact of the conflict on wheat and maize prices over the coming 12 months, looking at a variety of scenarios.

One model found that if Russian grain exports were halved and Ukrainian exports significantly reduced during that time, maize would be 4.6 percent more expensive and wheat 7.2 percent more expensive — even assuming that other exporters could step in and fill the shortfall. 

They said the price increase would persist as long as exports remained restricted.

To close the supply gap, the study found that other major producers would need to expand their grain growing areas significantly. 

Were all grain exports from Ukraine to cease, Australia would need to expand its wheat area by 1 percent, China by 1.5 percent, the European Union by 1.9 percent and India by 1.2 percent, according to the model.

This land-use change would lead to just over a billion tonnes of additional carbon dioxide equivalent added to the atmosphere, according to the study published in Nature Food. 

“The cropland expansion resulting from the war in Ukraine is occurring at the expense of more carbon emissions,” said lead author Jerome Dumortier, a researcher at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs in Indianapolis, US.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned in July that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had combined with the lingering trade impacts of Covid-19 to create an “unprecedented global hunger crisis”.

Figures from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization show food prices are currently more than 10 percent higher than they were a year ago. 

Although Moscow and Kyiv reached an agreement in July to resume some grain exports, there are fears that the conflict could lead to years of elevated food prices. 

Dumortier said that it was not currently clear whether other grain producers were able to meet global demand, meaning prices could rise even further than predicted in the models. 

“There are drought conditions in South America, Europe, and China, and export restrictions from various countries,” he told AFP. 

“Given those hinderances to full adjustment, commodity prices may be higher than what is estimated in the paper.”

Hurricane Fiona knocked out power in Puerto Rico

Hurricane Fiona smashed into Puerto Rico, knocking out the US island territory’s power while dumping torrential rain and wreaking catastrophic damage before making landfall in the Dominican Republic on Monday.

Landslides, blocked roads, fallen trees and power lines, as well as a collapsed bridge in the town of Utuado in the central mountainous region, were part of the destruction already caused by Fiona, Governor Pedro Pierluisi told an evening press conference.

The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 90 miles per hour (144 kilometers per hour) as it hit the Dominican Republic, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Twitter. 

“Life-threatening flash and urban flooding is likely for eastern portions of the Dominican Republic,” the NHC said in its latest advisory at 5:00 am local time (0900 GMT). 

Ahead of Fiona’s arrival in the Dominican Republic, President Luis Abinader suspended work on Monday and the island placed 13 of its 32 provinces, located to the north and east, on red alert ahead of the storm making landfall. 

In Puerto Rico, the entire territory of more than three million people was left without power as the hurricane neared, with Pierluisi saying the electrical system was out of service.

On Monday, the island’s power company said on its website that it had “reenergized some circuits” but did not have numbers on how many people were receiving electricity. 

The NHC downgraded Fiona to a tropical storm in Puerto Rico but warned that destructive rain and devastating flash floods could continue to hit the island.

Fiona will go down as a “catastrophic event due to the impacts of flooding” in Puerto Rico’s central, eastern and southern regions, Pierluisi tweeted, adding that 9-13 inches (23-33 centimeters) of rain had fallen in just five hours.

The hurricane has also left around 196,000 people without drinking water as a result of power outages and flooded rivers, officials said.

The storm made landfall in Puerto Rico on Sunday afternoon as a Category One hurricane, at the lowest end of the five-tier Saffir-Simpson scale.

Fiona is expected to grow stronger, turning into a “major hurricane” before it heads north into the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean, according to the NHC.

– ‘Extremely delicate’ –

In the town of Utuado, one family saw the zinc roof of their house — already replaced after 2017’s Hurricane Maria — torn off yet again, according to local media.

“This is an extremely delicate and sad situation. The damage we are seeing is catastrophic in several areas,” Pierluisi told reporters at the Sunday press conference.

The storm has caused one fatality — a man who was killed after his house was swept away by flooding in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, when Fiona was still classified as a tropical storm.

Utuado resident Fernando Vera told US broadcaster NPR that his family has never fully recovered from Hurricane Maria. 

“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.

US President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency for Puerto Rico on Sunday, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance.

The NHC also said tropical storm conditions are expected in the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas by late Monday or early Tuesday.

– ‘Stay in their homes’ –

Puerto Ricans have been advised “to stay in their homes or seek refuge if they need it,” Pierluisi told reporters.

The island — which has suffered from major infrastructure problems for years — was hit by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, devastating its electrical grid.

The grid was privatized in June 2021 in an effort to resolve the problem of blackouts, but the issue has persisted, and the entire island lost power earlier this year.

The former Spanish colony became a US territory in the late 19th century before gaining the status of associated free state in 1950.

After years of financial woes and recession, the island in 2017 declared the largest bankruptcy ever by a local US administration. Later that year, two hurricanes added to the misery and sparked a feud between San Juan and then-president Donald Trump’s administration.

Heavy rainfall has left rivers in southwestern Japan swollen and authorities have warned flooding remains possible

One person was confirmed dead in Japan on Monday after Typhoon Nanmadol slammed into the country, injuring dozens, but authorities downgraded warnings as the storm weakened after landfall.

The storm system, which made landfall in southern Kyushu’s Kagoshima on Sunday night, was moving off the western coast of Japan by Monday afternoon.

Nearly six million people were still under evacuation warnings and authorities said in some areas “even a tiny amount of additional rainfall” could trigger flooding and landslides.

In Miyazaki prefecture, some areas saw more rainfall in 24 hours than they normally receive in all of September. 

A man in his sixties from Miyakonojo city was confirmed dead after being found in a submerged car on farmland, authorities in Miyazaki told AFP.

In western Fukuoka region, officials said they were investigating whether an additional death was linked to the storm.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who had been scheduled to leave Monday for the United Nations General Assembly, announced he would delay his trip by a day to assess the damage.

But given the intensity of the storm, which came ashore packing gusts of up to 234 kilometres (145 miles) per hour, damage appeared relatively limited.

“The typhoon has all but disappeared today and the rain and wind are also subsiding now,” an official in charge of crisis management in Miyazaki’s Saito city told AFP.

– ‘I didn’t feel safe at home’ –

In the town of Izumi in Kagoshima prefecture, 30-year-old Yasuta Yamaguchi spent the night in a local hotel to shelter from the storm.

“I came to the hotel to shelter myself because it was windy and I thought it was dangerous,” he told AFP.

“I didn’t feel safe at home.”

By Monday afternoon, over 240,000 households in Kyushu and neighbouring Chugoku region were without power, utilities said. Hundreds of flights had been cancelled, and many train services throughout the affected regions were also halted.

By 4:00 pm (0700GMT), the typhoon was moving north-northeast off the coast of Shimane prefecture on the western side of Japan, with maximum gusts of around 162 kilometres per hour, according to the JMA.

“The thick cloud and eye area around the typhoon’s centre have already disappeared and it is weakening rapidly,” Ryuta Kurora, the head of the JMA’s forecast unit, told reporters.

Japan is currently in its typhoon season and faces around 20 such storms a year, routinely seeing heavy rains that cause landslides or flash floods.

In 2019, Typhoon Hagibis smashed into Japan as it hosted the Rugby World Cup, claiming the lives of more than 100 people. 

A year earlier, Typhoon Jebi shut down Kansai Airport in Osaka and left 14 people dead in its wake.

Scientists say climate change is increasing the severity of storms and causing extreme weather such as heat waves, droughts and flash floods to become more frequent and intense.

Hurricane Fiona knocked out power in Puerto Rico

Hurricane Fiona smashed into Puerto Rico on Sunday, knocking out the US island territory’s power while dumping torrential rain and wreaking catastrophic damage before spinning off towards the Dominican Republic.

Landslides, blocked roads, fallen trees and power lines, as well as a collapsed bridge in the town of Utuado in the central mountainous region were among the destruction already levied by Fiona, Governor Pedro Pierluisi told an evening press conference.

The entire territory of more than three million people lost power as the hurricane neared, with Pierluisi reporting the electrical system out of service.

Although the hurricane’s eye is now off the territory’s coast, destructive rain and devastating flash floods are expected to buffet the islands overnight before hitting the Dominican Republic on Monday.

As of 0600 GMT, Fiona was carrying sustained maximum winds of 85 miles (137 kilometers) per hour toward the southeastern coast of the Dominican Republic, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest advisory. 

Continued rainfall would “produce catastrophic life-threatening flash floods and urban flooding” as well as “mudslides and landslides in areas of higher terrain” across Puerto Rico and parts of the Dominican, the NHC said.

Fiona will go down as a “catastrophic event due to the impacts of flooding” in Puerto Rico’s central mountainous region, east and south, Pierluisi tweeted, adding that 9-13 inches (23-33 centimeters) of rain had fallen in just five hours.

The hurricane has also left around 196,000 people without drinking water as a result of power outages and flooded rivers, officials said.

Ahead of Fiona’s arrival in the Dominican Republic, President Luis Abinader suspended work on Monday.

The storm made landfall in Puerto Rico on Sunday afternoon as a Category One hurricane, at the lowest end of the five-tier Saffier-Simpson scale.

Fiona is expected to grow stronger, turning into a “major hurricane” before it heads north into the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean, according to the NHC.

– ‘Extremely delicate’ –

In the town of Utuado, one family saw the zinc roof of their house — already replaced after 2017’s Hurricane Maria — torn off yet again, according to local media.

“This is an extremely delicate and sad situation. The damage we are seeing is catastrophic in several areas,” Pierluisi told reporters at the Sunday press conference.

“The entire island is experiencing a large accumulation of rain. Multiple cases of severe damage have been reported in many towns.”

The storm has caused one fatality — a man who was killed after his house was swept away by flooding in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, when Fiona was still classified as a tropical storm.

Utuado resident Fernando Vera told US broadcaster NPR that his family has never fully recovered from Hurricane Maria. 

“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.

US President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency for Puerto Rico on Sunday, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance.

The NHC also said tropical storm conditions are expected in the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas by late Monday or early Tuesday.

– ‘Stay in their homes’ –

Puerto Ricans were advised “to stay in their homes or seek refuge if they need it,” Pierluisi told reporters.

The island — which has suffered from major infrastructure problems for years — was hit by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, devastating its electrical grid.

The grid was privatized in June 2021 in an effort to resolve the problem of blackouts, but the issue has persisted, and the entire island lost power earlier this year.

The former Spanish colony became a US territory in the late 19th century before gaining the status of associated free state in 1950.

After years of financial woes and recession, the island in 2017 declared the largest bankruptcy ever by a local US administration. Later that year, two hurricanes added to the misery and sparked a feud between San Juan and Washington.

Then-president Donald Trump’s administration was widely accused of failing to provide sufficient federal aid to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria struck.

Footage of him tossing paper towels to survivors during a visit drew criticism, and Trump later claimed the storm’s death toll had been inflated by Democrats to “make me look as bad as possible.”