Hurricane Fiona ripped through Puerto Rico on Sunday afternoon leaving 1.5 million people without power and experiencing life-threatening continuous flooding.
The category 1 storm mercilessly ripped through the Dominican Republic early Monday morning after leaving Puerto Rico and is predicted to become a major hurricane by Wednesday with possible winds reaching 111 mph.
Puerto Rico could experience days of blackout before any power is restored, with the exception of San Juan’s medical complex where power was restored for all hospitals late Monday morning. Governor Pedro Pierluisi said Puerto Rico has four warehouses stocked with enough food and water to last during the emergency response phase but will need more aid for the recovery phase.
No deaths have been reported thus far but over 1,000 people have been rescued. It is still too early to tell the full scope of damage the storm will cause in the coming days.
Puerto Rico is not the only place experiencing devastating rains. In Japan, 9 million have been forced to evacuate as Typhoon Nanmadol brings record-breaking rains. Alaska is experiencing the worst storm the state has seen in a decade as Typhoon Merbok takes over the western coast.