Hurricane Fiona caused power outages and severe flooding on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, which belongs to the United States. The storm came on Sunday.
The wind speed reached 140 kilometers per hour. Due to the natural disaster, schools and offices will be closed on Monday in Puerto Rico. US President Joe Biden has declared a state of emergency for the island. This means that authorities can provide emergency assistance as is customary during disasters. No casualties are known in Puerto Rico yet.
Due to the storm, much of Puerto Rico was flooded. The seaports and the main airport of the Caribbean island are closed.
Several roads are also impassable due to flooding. A bridge over a highway has collapsed in Utuado, a municipality in the mountainous region of the Cordillera Central. The bridge was just built after Hurricane Maria destroyed the previous bridge in 2017. That hurricane was the worst in the island’s history.
The hurricane also affects the Dominican Republic
According to the authorities, the electricity supply was partially restored on Monday. But in some parts of the island it will take days for people to return to power.
Fiona heads northwest through the Dominican Republic on Monday. The storm also affects the Turks and Caicos Islands. Fiona has already visited the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. There, someone was killed when her house was swept away by a flood.
Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth of the United States. This means that the territory belongs to the United States, but it is not part of the country.
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