Puerto Rico Braces for Life-Threatening Flooding, Mudslides as Island Comes Under Hurricane Warning

The latest forecasts indicate the storm will become a hurricane on Sunday, and later fizzling out in the Atlantic on Thursday after tearing through Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

As Tropical Storm Fiona inches closer to Puerto Rico, the Isle of Enchantment has come under threat of life-threatening mudslides and flooding over a period of multiple days, a warning issued by the US National Hurricane Center has revealed.

The Saturday advisory released by the agency places the storm at about 145 miles of Ponce, Puerto Rico, having reached maximum sustained wind speeds of 60 miles per hour. Moving in a west-northwest direction at the pace of 8 mph, the storm is expected to reach Puerto Rico by Saturday night.

Although Fiona is currently considered a tropical storm, forecasters anticipate the system will reach hurricane-level status before reaching Puerto Rico's southern coast on Sunday.

At present, the cyclone's tropical-storm-force winds have been recorded as stretching some 140 miles from the storm's eye.

Tropical Storm #Fiona after dark ⚡️⚡️

Make sure to heed all watches and warnings, and pay attention to local broadcasts for any other pertinent information regarding this system.#ReserveReady pic.twitter.com/vGqN6uZqCt

— Hurricane Hunters (@53rdWRS) September 17, 2022

Forecasts for rainfall put anywhere from 12 and 16 inches of rain slamming down on the island, with max isolated totals of up to 20 inches. Looming storm surge may raise water levels up to 3 feet as forecasters have warned that swells generated by Fiona will produce "life-threatening surf and rip current conditions."

"Additional strengthening is expected on Monday and Tuesday while Fiona moves over the southwestern Atlantic," warns the agency's latest bulletin.

To date, the storm has already caused damages on several eastern Caribbean islands. One death was earlier reported in the French territory of Guadeloupe, which recorded wind gusts in excess of 70 mph and rainfall accumulations of about 9 inches.

Authorities have detailed that the death took place after a man's home was swept away by flooding in the territory's Basse-Terre district.

Here is all that remains of the house swept away by the waves last night in Rivière des Pères #BasseTerre and in which the person perished.#Guadeloupe #Fiona #hurricaneseason #Climat pic.twitter.com/8zaFiDSgk6

— Gérald DELISCAR-JOURDAN (@GDELISCAR) September 17, 2022

#Fiona 🌀🌀🌀 Les fortes pluies ont provoqué des dans tout l’archipel durant la nuit.
1.Riviere des Pères à #BasseTerre (Vidéo RS)@guadeloupela1e pic.twitter.com/OhhRoue5SG

— Eric Stimpfling (@StimpflingEric) September 17, 2022

Authorities in Guadeloupe reported that an estimated 13,000 customers were without power, and that at least on bridge had been destroyed among other structural damages.

In Puerto Rico, potential power outages have remained one of the top concerns after Hurricane Maria's landfall in September 2017, at which time the island recorded one of its longest widespread power outages.

Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi earlier remarked during a conference that residents were "already starting to feel [Fiona's] effects." Reports indicate nearly 40,000 customers already encountered outages on Saturday.

An estimated $550 million in emergency funds have been made available in the storm's aftermath, according to Pierluisi.