Hurricane Fiona gained strength on its way to the Turks and Caicos Islands and was threatening to become a Category 3 storm, prompting the government to impose a curfew.
Fiona could become a strong hurricane by Tuesday, when it was expected to pass by the British mainland.
“Storms are unpredictable,” Prime Minister Washington Misick said in a statement from London, where he was attending Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. “Therefore they must take all precautions to ensure their safety.”
Misick was scheduled to return home on Thursday.
Fiona’s center was 130 kilometers (80 miles) southeast of Grand Turk Island on Monday night. Its maximum sustained winds were 175 kilometers (110 miles) per hour and it was moving north-northwest at 17 kilometers (10 miles) per hour.
The storm continued to drop heavy rains over the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, where a 58-year-old man died after being swept away by a river in the central mountain town of ComerÃo, according to police.
Another death was associated with the blackout. A 70-year-old man was burned to death when he tried to fill the generator with gasoline while it was running, according to authorities.
The National Guard has rescued more than 900 people as water continued to engulf towns in eastern and southern Puerto Rico, with up to 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rain expected in some spots. Several landslides were also reported.
Fiona’s impact was most devastating for Puerto Rico because it has yet to recover from Hurricane Maria, which killed nearly 3,000 people and destroyed the power grid in 2017. Five years later, more than 3,000 homes in the island still have blue tarps as a roof.
Authorities said at least 1,300 people and about 250 pets remained in shelters around the island.
Fiona cut power when it hit the southwestern tip of Puerto Rico on Sunday, the anniversary of Hurricane Hugo, which hit the island in 1989 as a Category 3 storm.
By Monday night, authorities said they had restored power to more than 114,000 customers, on an island of 3.2 million people.
Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi warned that it could be several days before everyone had electricity.
More than 837,000 customers, two-thirds of the island’s total, were left without running water due to cloudy water at filtration plants or a lack of electricity, officials said.
Fiona was expected to become a major Category 3 or higher hurricane. Its course appeared to take it near the Turks and Caicos Islands on Tuesday and it was not expected to threaten the US mainland.
Authorities in the Dominican Republic reported one death, a man struck by a felled tree. The storm displaced more than 12,400 people and isolated at least two towns.
[Con información de The Associated Press]
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