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Hurricane Fiona intensifies after hitting Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico

Hurricane Fiona hit the north late on Monday (19) after bringing torrential rain and strong winds to the Dominican Republic and causing a total power outage in neighboring Puerto Rico, where at least two people have died.

The Category 2 hurricane is likely to become a Category 3 hurricane as it moves through the warm waters of the Caribbean towards the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Fiona was upgraded to a Category 2 with 169 km/h winds by the National Hurricane Center on Monday night.

On Tuesday, central Fiona is expected to pass near or east of the archipelago, which is subject to a current hurricane watch, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Tropical storm conditions were also expected in the Bahamas.

After bombing Puerto Rico, Hurricane Fiona hit the Dominican Republic near Boca Yuma at 3:30 am local time, according to the NHC. The center of the storm hit the northern coast of Hispaniola before noon.

This is the first hurricane to directly hit the Dominican Republic since Jeanne left severe damage in the east of the country in September 2018.

Fiona caused severe flooding, leaving several villages isolated and around 800 homeless and more than 11,000 people without electricity in the eastern part of the country.

“The damage is considerable,” said Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader. He plans to declare a state of calamity in the provinces of La Altagracia, where the famous resorts of Punta Cana, El Seibo and Hato Mayor are located.

In La Altagracia, in the far east of the country and where the hurricane made landfall on Monday morning, the overflow of the Yuma River damaged agricultural areas and left several towns isolated.

Electricity and water utilities are working to restore services in the affected areas.

In Puerto Rico, US territory, residents still faced strong winds, frequent lightning and heavy rain.

Fiona arrived there on Sunday afternoon (18), pouring up to 76 cm of rain in some areas.

The storm comes five years after Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria, which triggered the worst power outage in US history.

US President Joe Biden spoke with Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi on Monday, promising to increase support personnel deployed to the island in the coming days.

“The president has said he will ensure that the federal team remains on the job to do so,” according to the White House.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator Deanne Criswell will travel there on Tuesday.

Jeannette Rivera, 54, public relations in Orlando, Florida, said she had not spoken to her family since an irregular phone call earlier on Sunday.

She fears for her parents’ safety and for the health of her 84-year-old father, who had just contracted Covid-19 and had a fever.

“My concern is that if they need help, there’s no way to communicate,” Rivera said.

Source: CNN Brasil

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