Strong winds brought by Hurricane Fiona knocked out Puerto Rico's power as it made landfall over the island on Sunday.
Electricity operator LUMA Energy said winds reaching 86 mph (140 kph) caused blackouts across the entire US territory, plunging some 1.5 million people into darkness.
In 2017, all of Puerto Rico also lost power when Hurricane Maria ravaged the islands and left residents without electricity for months.
Officials said the power outage this time would not last that long as LUMA Energy reported that they are planning to restore electricity with the help of the local government.
“This is not Maria, this hurricane will not be Maria," Abner Gomez, head of public safety and crisis management at LUMA Energy said.
The hurricane whipped the southwestern coast of the islands near Punta Tocon at 3:20 pm ET and moved west of Puerto Rico towards the Dominican Republic, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane #Fiona could produce storm surge flooding of 1 to 3 ft above normally dry ground along the eastern and southern coast of Puerto Rico and the islands of Vieques and Culebra.https://t.co/WW49pyscNl pic.twitter.com/V1Ec17H9TI
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 18, 2022
"Catastrophic flooding” is also possible in the US island territory due to heavy rain.
"These rains will produce life-threatening and catastrophic flash and urban flooding across Puerto Rico and the eastern Dominican Republic, along with mudslides and landslides in areas of higher terrain," the hurricane center said.
The hurricane center forecasts that the hurricane may dump 12 to 18 inches of rain with a local maximum of 30 inches across eastern and southern Puerto Rico, while four to eight inches of rain can be expected in some parts of the Dominican Republic.
Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said 120 shelters and 25,000 cots have been installed to cater to residents. Classes in schools were canceled and government workers were advised to stay home.
US President Joe Biden approved Sunday the declaration of a state of emergency over Puerto Rico, where over 300 Federal Emergency Management Agency workers have responded, Anne Bink, FEMA's Assistant Administrator for Response and Recovery told CNN.
"Our heart goes out to the residents that are again going through another catastrophic event five years later," Bink said.
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