Fiona Strengthens To Hurricane As Puerto Rico Braces For Damage

According to the National Hurricane Center, the storm could bring up to 25 inches of rain to the island.

Hurricane warnings were in effect for all of Puerto Rico and the coast of the Dominican Republic as the storm gained strength.

As of 11 a.m., the storm was 50 miles south of Puerto Rico's southern city of Ponce. According to the National Hurricane Center, it is moving west- northwest at eight miles per hour.

According to the National Hurricane Center, the storm is expected to move near or over Puerto Rico Sunday afternoon or evening and then towards the northern coast of the Dominican Republic Sunday night and Monday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency was given the ability to organize disaster relief efforts after President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Puerto Rico.

One person died and several other Caribbean islands were flooded after 17 inches of rain fell on Guadeloupe.

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According to the Weather Channel,Fiona is expected to move northeast and steer away from the East Coast, which could lead to it becoming a Category 1 storm.

Key Background

351,000 people were without power in Puerto Rico as of Sunday morning. Puerto Rico is still recovering from Hurricane Maria, which hit the island as a Category 4 storm and killed over 3000 people. There have been three hurricanes and six named storms in the Atlantic this year. Hurricane Danielle weakened to a tropical storm as it moved across the Atlantic in early September, while Hurricane Earl caused dangerous rip currents to the island and parts of the east coast.

Tangent

It will be the first named Atlantic storm to make landfall since July and the first Hurricane to hit land in the U.S. It was the first time in 25 years that there were no hurricanes or tropical storms in the Atlantic.

Big Number

$90 billion is a large amount of money. Puerto Rico was damaged by Hurricane Maria.

There is a tropical storm near Puerto Rico.

Biden declared a state of emergency for Puerto Rico because of the storm.