Hurricane Fiona has strengthened to a powerful Category 3 storm, threatening more deadly flooding Tuesday as it slams the Turks and Caicos Islands with sustained winds of more than 111 miles per hour. The storm caused catastrophic damage to homes, infrastructure and power grids in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The Puerto Rico National Guard is reporting hundreds of rescues of people left stranded by the hurricane. The governor there said most of the island is without power or water. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s administrator is meeting Tuesday with local officials on the ground to assess the damage.
In the Dominican Republic, more than 1 million people are without running water.
Authorities are now also reporting the first deaths from the hurricane. At least two people were killed in Puerto Rico; one man was swept away in floodwaters and another died from a fire. At least one person was killed in the Dominican Republic and another in the French territory of Guadalupe, according to officials. The storm comes five years after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, killing at least 3,000 people and causing about $80 billion in damage.
