SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Ernesto strengthened into a hurricane on Wednesday as it brought torrential rains to Puerto Rico, leaving nearly half of all customers in the U.S. territory without power as it threatened to develop into a major storm en route to Bermuda.
The storm was located about 225 miles northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico and moving over open waters. It had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph and was moving northwest at 16 mph.
“The official forecast still predicts that Ernesto could become a major hurricane in about 48 hours,” the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday afternoon.
Tropical storm warnings have been lifted for Puerto Rico and the offshore islands of Vieques and Culebra, as well as for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.
“I know it was a long night listening to the howling wind,” U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan Jr. said at a press conference.
The impact elsewhere in the Caribbean: “Lots of rain”
An island-wide power outage was reported on St. John and St. Croix, and at least six cell towers were offline across the U.S. territory, said Emergency Management Director Daryl Jaschen.
He added that the airports in St. Croix and St. Thomas are expected to reopen around noon.
Schools and government offices remained closed in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Severe flooding was reported in several areas, forcing authorities to close roads, some of which were littered with trees. More than 140 flights to and from Puerto Rico were canceled.
“Lots of rain, lots of rain,” Culebra Mayor Edilberto Romero said in a telephone interview. “Trees have fallen on public roads. Some roofs have been blown away.”
Amid the incessant rain, authorities opened one of Puerto Rico’s largest dams and evacuated some residents of the northern coastal town of Toa Baja as torrents of foaming brown water rushed toward the dam.
Bermuda could feel Ernesto’s impact later in the week
Ernesto is forecast to move through open waters for the remainder of the week, making its closest approach to Bermuda on Friday and Saturday. It is expected to strengthen into a severe Category 3 storm in the coming days, then weaken slightly to a Category 2 as it approaches Bermuda.
“Residents must prepare now before the situation worsens,” said Bermuda’s Security Minister Michael Weeks. “Now is not the time for complacency.”
Meteorologists also warned of strong waves along the US east coast.
“That means it can be dangerous for anyone going to the beach, even in good weather … because of these surf backwashes,” said Robbie Berg, a warning coordination meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center.
Rainfall of between 4 and 6 inches is expected in the United States and the British Virgin Islands, between 6 and 8 inches in Puerto Rico, and up to 10 inches in isolated areas.
Late Tuesday, the US emergency agency FEMA warned people in both US territories to prepare for “prolonged power outages”.
Hundreds of thousands in Puerto Rico without electricity
More than 700,000 homes in Puerto Rico were without power and 23 hospitals had to run on generators, Governor Pedro Pierluisi said Wednesday, adding that crews are currently assessing the damage and it is too early to say when power might be restored.
“We are trying to get the system up and running as quickly as possible,” said Juan Saca, president of Luma Energy, the company responsible for power transmission and distribution in Puerto Rico.
Luma Energy said in a statement on Wednesday that its priority was to restore power to hospitals, the island’s water and sewerage company and other essential services. Some 235,000 customers were without water due to power outages, Pierluisi said.
Puerto Rico’s power grid was destroyed by Hurricane Maria (Category 4) in September 2017 and remains unstable while emergency responders are still working to rebuild the system.
“It’s just frustrating that so many years later, something like a storm can still cause such widespread power outages in Puerto Rico, especially given the risks these outages can pose to vulnerable households in Puerto Rico,” said Charlotte Gossett Navarro, executive director of the Hispanic Federation for Puerto Rico.
On the island with 3.2 million inhabitants and a poverty rate of over 40 percent, not everyone can afford generators.
“People have already prepared with candles,” said Lucía Rodríguez, a 31-year-old street vendor.
Rooftop solar panels are still rare but still on the rise in Puerto Rico, where fossil fuels generate 94 percent of the island’s electricity. When Maria struck, there were 8,000 rooftop solar panels, compared with more than 117,000 today, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
Pierluisi announced late Tuesday that U.S. President Joe Biden had approved his request to use FEMA emergency funds if needed as a result of the tropical storm.
Ernesto is the fifth named storm and third hurricane of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season. Since 1966, there have only been four other years in which there were three or more Atlantic hurricanes by mid-August, according to Philip Klotzbach, a hurricane researcher at Colorado State University.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year as oceans are record-breakingly warm, forecasting 17 to 25 named storms, including four to seven major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher.
Copyright: NPR
