Hurricane Fiona Latest: Storm Rips Through Dominican Republic After Hitting Puerto Rico
Hurricane Fiona made landfall in the Dominican Republic on Monday morning after causing devastation to Puerto Rico over the weekend.
The Dominican Republic was hit with heavy rain and strong winds that caused power outages, flooding, and roofs to be blown off of buildings as of Monday afternoon. Fiona intensified to a Category 2 storm after touching land in the Dominican Republic.
"It's important people understand that this is not over," said Ernesto Morales, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Juan.
The Weather Channel reported the Dominican Republic will see around 4-8 inches of rain with the possibility of 20 inches. There has been one reported death due to falling trees. Authorities closed ports and beaches, according to the Associated Press.
Fiona, which has maximum sustained winds of 100 mph, is heading away from the Dominican Republic as of Monday evening but is being forecasted to "start tracking north into the southwest Atlantic Ocean where it's expected to intensify," The Weather Channel reported.
Forecasters said the center of the storm is headed towards Turks and Caicos on Tuesday, with an expectation of 4-8 inches of rainfall.
At least two people are dead in Puerto Rico from the storm and around 1 million residents are without power. About 200,000 do not have access to clean water.
Puerto Rico has seen around 27 inches of rain from Fiona with the possibility of reaching 30 inches.
The damages in Puerto Rico were described as "catastrophic" by Gov. Pedro Pierluisi.
After reeking havoc on Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, Hurricane Fiona is back over open waters and strengthening. Currently a Category 2 storm, Fiona is forecast to grow into a Category 4 storm by Wednesday afternoon. #KLBK #Fiona #Hurricane pic.twitter.com/1hnyDfCQao
— Jacob Riley - KLBK (@jrileywx) September 19, 2022
Hurricane #Fiona is now a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph. The storm is expected to become a major hurricane on Tuesday. Current forecast track takes Fiona near or to the
— Emily Wahls (@EmilyWahls) September 19, 2022
east of the Turks and Caicos on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/dc4OiOwnKW
This video is from San Juan! Our teams of @WCKitchen are deployed there and in Dominican Republic and Virgin Islands. We will adapt and move between islands to provide relief. We are deployed in Alaska as well! #chefsfortheworld pic.twitter.com/RDSDVLf8ma
— José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) September 18, 2022
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