Uraganas Fiona Puerto Rike atnešė elektros tiekimo nutraukimus ir didžiulius potvynius

TOPLINE

Hurricane Fiona has caused “catastrophic” damage on Puerto Rico, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said Monday, one day after the Category 1 storm knocked out power and sparked landslides and massive floods on the island, which is still reeling from the deadly Hurricane Maria that hit the U.S. territory in 2017.

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The storm has caused at least one death on Puerto Rico since it made landfall on the island’s south coast Sunday afternoon: An older man died while attempting to operate a generator, pagal į New York Times ", citing government staff.

Some 1.3 million people were without power Monday afternoon, virtually all of the 1.4 million customers on Puerto Rico tracked by the vieta poweroutage.us. Electricity has been restored for around 100,000 customers, but it could take several days for power to be restored to most of the island, power company LUMA sakė.

Some parts of the island have received more than 30 inches of rain, Pierluisi sakė, which could provoke “life-threatening and catastrophic flooding” as well as mudslides, according to the National Weather Service.

Authorities said they have evakuoti hundreds of people in Puerto Rico from their homes since the storm began.

President Joe Biden declared an emergency in Puerto Rico on Sunday, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to organize disaster relief efforts.

Ką reikia stebėti

Fiona is now battering the Dominican Republic after making pakrantė on the island of Hispaniola Monday morning with sustained winds of 90 miles per hour. The storm is expected to strengthen after moving away from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, pagal to the National Hurricane Center. It is then projected to move near Turks and Caicos Tuesday, before veering into the Atlantic and potentially nearing Bermuda as a major hurricane Thursday or Friday.

Pagrindinės aplinkybės

Puerto Rico’s power grid has been vulnerable since Hurricane Maria in 2017, which made landfall on the island as a Category 4 storm and killed nearly 3,000 people, left many without power for months, decimated neighborhoods and caused an estimated $90 billion in damage. Puerto Rico’s financially stretched government struggled to restore the island’s power grid, which has struggled with funding issues for years, and officials contracted with LUMA in 2020 to take over power transmission and make urgent repairs . The transition to a private operator has resulted in dažnai power outages that have led even Pierluisi to kritikuoti the company, though the company has said the island’s old infrastructure, extreme weather and poor maintenance are to blame. Hundreds of Puerto Ricans have protestavo the deal with LUMA and have demanded the government terminate the contract.

Tangentas

Fiona is the first hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. this year, and the first hurricane or tropical storm to make landfall in the country since early July. The Atlantic hurricane season has been uncharacteristically quiet, despite earlier forecasts for an extremely active year.

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At least 750,000. That’s how many did not have water service as of Monday morning because of electrical disruptions, Puerto Rico’s water management authority, Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados, sakė, As Washington Post.

Papildoma literatūra

Hurricane Fiona rips through powerless Puerto Rico ("Associated Press")

Hurricane Fiona makes landfall in Dominican Republic (CNN)

Puerto Rikas netenka elektros energijos, kai uraganas Fiona pasiekia sausumą („Forbes“)