Hurricane Fiona now Category 3, becomes 1st major hurricane of season; NY sending aid
Puerto Rico is suffering through another major hurricane on the 5-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria.
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Hurricane Fiona is now the first major hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane season, barreling toward the Turks and Caicos Islands after devastating Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
Fiona was centered 80 miles (130 kilometers) southeast of Grand Turk Island late Monday. It had maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph) and was moving north-northwest 10 mph (17 kph).
The National Guard has rescued more than 900 people as floodwaters continue to rush through towns in eastern and southern Puerto Rico with up to 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rain forecast for some areas. Multiple landslides also were reported.
Officials confirm at least two people have died, including a Puerto Rican man who was swept away by a flooded river and a person in the Dominican Republican who was hit by a falling tree.
The blow from Fiona was made more devastating because Puerto Rico has yet to recover from Hurricane Maria, which killed nearly 3,000 people and destroyed the power grid in 2017. Five years later, more than 3,000 homes on the island are still covered by blue tarps.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul says she is sending resources to help restore power and help with rescue efforts.
"We will have over 100 troopers from New York State Police Department on their way to Puerto Rico over this next week," the governor said. "The island of Puerto Rico has had to endure the destruction of the hands of Mother Nature. It's reminiscent of five years ago when we were all just shocked by the scale of devastation on the island. And the images are still very vivid."
"The damages that we are seeing are catastrophic," said Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi said. "We are going through a difficult moment, but our people are strong and very generous."
LUMA Energy said that just 100,000 out of 1.5 Million clients have power on the island, and helicopters are in the air surveying damage. Only 30% of households on the island have potable water after rivers grew and heavy rainfall impacted the system.
WATCH: Hurricane Hunters video from inside Fiona
Pierluisi said that the goal is for "a large number of LUMA customers" to have power "in a matter of days," which is in contrast to what LUMA said in a statement Sunday, that "full power restoration could take several days."
The blow from Fiona was made more devastating because Puerto Rico has yet to recover from Hurricane Maria, which killed nearly 3,000 people and destroyed the power grid in 2017. Five years later, more than 3,000 homes on the island still have blue tarps for a roof.
Some areas of the island that typically do not see flooding are seeing unprecedented amounts of rainfall, and some area will end the storm with 35 inches of rain -- 5 inches shy of the amount of Maria's rainfall.
"It's important people understand that this is not over," said Ernesto Morales, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Juan who said flooding reached "historic levels."
The most affected regions are in the south, southwestern and central mountain range, according to the governor, who noted that there will be areas on the northern coast impacted as well because of water flow.
Gov. Hochul announced the state was mobilizing to assist in relief and recovery efforts, and responding to a request by Pierluisi, the state is sending 100 Spanish speaking police officers and emergency responders to Puerto Rico and drones to the Dominican Republic.
WATCH: Gov. Hochul announces relief in the wake of Hurricane Fiona
New York is also working the Red Cross, SOMOS and other partners to send medical and other supplies, and teams from the New York Power Authority are ready to deploy and assist in restoring power to the island.
"New York knows full well the devastating impact that Mother Nature can bring, and that is why we stand ready to help the people of Puerto Rico recover and rebuild from this terrible storm," Hochul said. "Our brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico are incredibly resilient but, in times like this, New York will be there to help in any way we can, including sending personnel and resources to help the island and its residents recover."
Pierluisi said that he expected a similar response from New Jersey.
More than 1,000 people have been rescued by authorities, including a woman rescued Sunday who was stuck in a tree for seven hours after trying to look at the damage, officials said, adding that more than 2,100 people are in 113 shelters across the island.
Hospitals are currently operating on generators, according to the governor.
The island's National Weather Service office said flash flooding was occurring in south-central parts of Puerto Rico and tweeted, "MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY!"
Water service was cut to more than 837,000 customers - two thirds of the total on the island - because of turbid water at filtration plants or lack of power, officials said.
Before dawn Monday, authorities in a boat navigated the flooded streets of the north coast town of Catano and used a megaphone to alert people that the pumps had collapsed, urging them to evacuate as soon as possible.
Brown water rushed through streets, into homes and covered a runway in southern Puerto Rico.
The system also ripped asphalt from roads and washed away a bridge in the central mountain town of Utuado that police said was installed by the National Guard after Maria hit as a Category 4 storm.
Fiona also tore the roofs off homes, including that of Nelson Cirino in the northern coastal town of Loiza.
"I was sleeping and saw when the corrugated metal flew off," he said as he watched rain drench his belongings and wind whip his colorful curtains into the air.
The storm was expected to move into the Atlantic on Monday afternoon and pass close to the Turks and Caicos islands on Tuesday. It could draw near Bermuda as a major hurricane late Thursday or on Friday, forecasters said.
Authorities announced Monday that power had been returned to 100,000 customers on the island of 3.2 million people, but power distribution company Luma said it could take days to fully restore service.
U.S. President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency as the eye of the storm approached the island's southwest corner.
Puerto Rico's health centers were running on generators, and some of those failed. Health Secretary Carlos Mellado said crews rushed to repair generators at the Comprehensive Cancer Center, where several patients had to be evacuated.
Fiona previously battered the eastern Caribbean, killing one man in the French territory of Guadeloupe when floodwaters washed his home away, officials said.
The system hit Puerto Rico on the anniversary of Hurricane Hugo, which slammed into the island in 1989 as a Category 3 storm.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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