After severe flooding in parts of the Caribbean, the storm “Fiona” as a hurricane of three magnitudes also brought heavy rain to the Turks and Caicos Islands. The government of the British Overseas Territory called on the approximately 30,000 residents to stay at home. The hurricane had gained strength and passed the island chain with sustained wind speeds of up to 185 kilometers per hour. The US Hurricane Center predicted “Fiona” will continue to strengthen and approach Bermuda on Thursday.
As a category one (of five) hurricane, “Fiona” made landfall in Puerto Rico on Sunday and caused severe damage – Governor Pedro Pierluisi even called the extent of the destruction “catastrophic”. According to him, at least two people died. According to the provider Luma, more than 1.1 million of the approximately 1.5 million connections in Puerto Rico were still without power on Tuesday after an island-wide power blackout.
Tuesday marked the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Maria’s devastating impact on the US territory. Almost 3000 fatalities were attributed to this, the reconstruction is far from complete and is now being made more difficult again. The US civil protection agency FEMA announced that it would send hundreds of additional employees to Puerto Rico in the coming days.
“Fiona” also made landfall in the Dominican Republic on Monday near the city of Punta Cana, which is popular with tourists. There, as in Puerto Rico, according to the respective authorities, the water supply was interrupted in many places. President Luis Abinader canceled his planned trip to New York for the UN General Assembly and got an idea of the damage on site.
