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Hurricane Fiona slams Dominican Republic after knocking out power in Puerto Rico and causing
Sep 20, 2022 1 min, 44 secs

Hurricane Fiona unleashed more rain on Puerto Rico on Monday, a day after the storm knocked out power and water to most of the island, and National Guard troops rescued hundreds of people who got stranded.

The blow from Fiona was made more devastating because Puerto Rico has yet to recover from Hurricane Maria, which killed nearly 3,000 people and destroyed the power grid in 2017.

One death in Puerto Rico was associated with the blackout — a 70-year-old man who was burned to death after he tried to fill his generator with gasoline while it was running, officials said.

Back in Puerto Rico, the National Weather Service office said flash flooding was occurring in south-central parts of the island and tweeted, "MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY!".

Up to 22 inches of rain fell in some areas of Puerto Rico, and forecasters said another 4 to 8 inches could fall as the storm moves away, with even more possible in some places.

He said flooding reached "historic levels," with authorities evacuating or rescuing hundreds of people across Puerto Rico.

Water service was cut to more than 837,000 customers — two thirds of the total on the island — because of turbid water at filtration plants or lack of power, officials said.

The National Hurricane Center said Monday evening that "heavy rains" from Fiona would continue to fall over Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic throughout the night.

Deanne Criswell, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said in a statement to CBS News on Sunday night that the agency was "actively supporting" Puerto Rico and "immediately deployed hundreds of FEMA personnel before the storm made landfall.".

"Today, I spoke with @GovPierluisi to address the immediate needs of Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Fiona," the president said.

The system also ripped asphalt from roads and washed away a bridge in the central mountain town of Utuado that police said was installed by the National Guard after Maria hit as a Category 4 storm

The system hit Puerto Rico on the anniversary of Hurricane Hugo, which slammed into the island in 1989 as a Category 3 storm

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