Hurricane Fiona makes second landfall in Dominican Republic after lashing Puerto Rico, leaving it powerless
[NYPOST] After making landfall along the extreme southwestern coast of Puerto Rico on Sunday afternoon, Hurricane Fiona made a second landfall about 12 hours later in the eastern Dominican Republic early Monday morning.
Maximum sustained winds for Fiona’s first landfall in Puerto Rico were estimated at about 85 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. High winds were reported across the island on Sunday, including a 103-mph wind gust in the city of Ponce.
Hurricane Fiona was slightly stronger for its second landfall in the Dominican Republic, with maximum sustained winds estimated at about 90 mph — still a Category 1 hurricane. The Punta Cana International Airport clocked a 79-mph wind gust near the time of landfall in the pre-dawn hours of Monday.
The entire archipelago of Puerto Rico was plunged into a blackout Sunday afternoon as Hurricane Fiona’s high winds caused severe damage to the U.S. territory’s power grid, which was destroyed by Hurricane Maria about five years ago in October 2017. Nearly 1.5 million customers were without power on Sunday afternoon.
According to LUMA Energy — the power company responsible for Puerto Rico — power had been restored to about 100,000 customers as of Monday morning within the municipalities of Toa Alta, Toa Baja, the San Juan metropolitan area, Bayamón and Corozal.
All of Puerto Rico without power as Hurricane Fiona slams island
[WashingtonPost] Winds have gusted over 100 mph while the National Hurricane Center warns of ‘catastrophic’ flooding.
Posted by: Fred 2022-09-20 |