According to CNN, Hurricane Fiona has reached category four and is headed to Bermuda later this week. Fiona has killed at least five people in the Caribbean, including one in Guadeloupe, two in Puerto Rico, and two in the Dominican Republic.
Much of Puerto Rico & the Dominican Republic are without power and running water. Only about 395,000 of the 1.5 million utility customers in PR had power by 1 p.m today. One million people in the DR had no water serv of this morning, and more than 349,000 customers were without power.
The National Weather Service advised that power out also impacted the Caribbean due to the storm, specifically heat indices. Turks and Caiwere were also affected. The country is under shelter-in-place order, and many areas are without power. Anya Williams, the deputy governor of the islands, said that left many areas without power, including Grand Turk, South Caicos, Salt Cay, North Caicos, and Middle Caicos. Fortunately, no deaths or serious injuries had been reported in Turks as of Tuesday evening.
Several public officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris and celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, have spoken out about the hurricane, especially since the storm came nearly five years after Hurricane Maria. If you recall, the storm devastated the island, leaving thousands dead and no power or water service for more than 1 million people for months.
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VP Harris tweeted, “The people of Puerto Rico are in our thoughts. Our Administration is providing the full force of the federal government in response to Hurricane Fiona. We will be with you every step of the way.” Jennifer Lopez wrote, “I’m thinking of all my Puerto Rican brothers and sisters right now as they go through another disaster with Hurricane Fiona.”
Our thoughts continue to go out to those affected by this storm.
