Dubai Telegraph - Fiona strengthens to hurricane as it nears Puerto Rico

EUR -
AED 3.865039
AFN 71.961868
ALL 97.885367
AMD 409.705534
ANG 1.898038
AOA 960.733931
ARS 1055.061215
AUD 1.613881
AWG 1.894109
AZN 1.787029
BAM 1.951539
BBD 2.126437
BDT 125.855234
BGN 1.956342
BHD 0.396578
BIF 3110.579445
BMD 1.052283
BND 1.414399
BOB 7.293078
BRL 6.086683
BSD 1.053191
BTN 88.848028
BWP 14.387453
BYN 3.446543
BYR 20624.740218
BZD 2.122845
CAD 1.469502
CDF 3014.78969
CHF 0.929776
CLF 0.037101
CLP 1023.776253
CNY 7.619996
CNH 7.625593
COP 4626.455438
CRC 534.824751
CUC 1.052283
CUP 27.885491
CVE 110.024795
CZK 25.350861
DJF 187.538784
DKK 7.458788
DOP 63.520417
DZD 140.573397
EGP 52.274979
ERN 15.78424
ETB 131.306162
FJD 2.388363
FKP 0.830585
GBP 0.832524
GEL 2.883571
GGP 0.830585
GHS 16.7185
GIP 0.830585
GMD 74.71233
GNF 9078.051459
GTQ 8.13025
GYD 220.338958
HKD 8.189863
HNL 26.613518
HRK 7.506205
HTG 138.346648
HUF 411.186809
IDR 16734.714279
ILS 3.929639
IMP 0.830585
INR 88.911049
IQD 1379.588093
IRR 44293.214291
ISK 145.520299
JEP 0.830585
JMD 166.933965
JOD 0.746386
JPY 162.676061
KES 136.007134
KGS 91.02957
KHR 4249.68174
KMF 491.94202
KPW 947.053999
KRW 1471.222726
KWD 0.323672
KYD 0.877684
KZT 523.167824
LAK 23125.51255
LBP 94319.785398
LKR 306.411046
LRD 190.622024
LSL 19.101997
LTL 3.107117
LVL 0.636515
LYD 5.138732
MAD 10.521031
MDL 19.167154
MGA 4930.189594
MKD 61.546561
MMK 3417.773046
MNT 3575.656436
MOP 8.443666
MRU 41.866002
MUR 48.839087
MVR 16.268296
MWK 1826.195708
MXN 21.380416
MYR 4.698412
MZN 67.293799
NAD 19.101997
NGN 1768.455747
NIO 38.755022
NOK 11.613586
NPR 142.154623
NZD 1.792324
OMR 0.40513
PAB 1.053101
PEN 3.996674
PGK 4.239684
PHP 62.126243
PKR 292.773138
PLN 4.342422
PYG 8247.914831
QAR 3.840515
RON 4.977085
RSD 117.020141
RUB 106.281009
RWF 1452.315514
SAR 3.95054
SBD 8.79238
SCR 14.332083
SDG 632.944958
SEK 11.610939
SGD 1.413951
SHP 0.830585
SLE 23.75528
SLL 22065.84631
SOS 601.88026
SRD 37.282669
STD 21780.126598
SVC 9.214882
SYP 2643.891613
SZL 19.091139
THB 36.458458
TJS 11.216013
TMT 3.682989
TND 3.324243
TOP 2.464553
TRY 36.27081
TTD 7.130433
TWD 34.270209
TZS 2791.031424
UAH 43.426878
UGX 3886.514989
USD 1.052283
UYU 45.021709
UZS 13526.469111
VES 48.861031
VND 26751.65603
VUV 124.929112
WST 2.937543
XAF 654.521833
XAG 0.033884
XAU 0.000395
XCD 2.843846
XDR 0.801343
XOF 654.521833
XPF 119.331742
YER 262.991742
ZAR 19.064031
ZMK 9471.810193
ZMW 29.146091
ZWL 338.834589
  • RBGPF

    -0.5000

    59.69

    -0.84%

  • RYCEF

    0.1900

    6.8

    +2.79%

  • CMSC

    0.1410

    24.661

    +0.57%

  • SCS

    0.1150

    13.185

    +0.87%

  • NGG

    -0.7150

    62.555

    -1.14%

  • GSK

    -0.0250

    33.325

    -0.08%

  • AZN

    0.5900

    63.79

    +0.92%

  • BTI

    -0.1900

    36.89

    -0.52%

  • BP

    0.3300

    29.41

    +1.12%

  • RELX

    0.3400

    45.45

    +0.75%

  • RIO

    -0.3100

    62.08

    -0.5%

  • CMSD

    0.1700

    24.43

    +0.7%

  • BCE

    -0.4100

    26.59

    -1.54%

  • VOD

    -0.0450

    8.895

    -0.51%

  • BCC

    2.4400

    139.85

    +1.74%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.25

    +0.15%

Fiona strengthens to hurricane as it nears Puerto Rico
Fiona strengthens to hurricane as it nears Puerto Rico / Photo: Patricio ARANA - AFP

Fiona strengthens to hurricane as it nears Puerto Rico

Fiona strengthened into a hurricane on Sunday as it barreled down on the US island territory of Puerto Rico, which has been devastated by previous storms, the National Hurricane Center said.

Text size:

Packing winds of 80 miles (130 kilometers) per hour, Fiona is forecast to strengthen further in the next 48 hours as it moves toward Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic before heading north into the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

"Fiona becomes a hurricane," the NHC said in an advisory, warning that "torrential rains and mudslides (are) expected across Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic."

"Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours while Fiona moves near Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and over the southwestern Atlantic," it said.

Puerto Rico and part of the Dominican Republic -- an island nation located to its west -- are under a hurricane warning.

This means "hurricane conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area, in this case within the next 24 hours," NHC said.

The National Weather Service's San Juan office also warned on Twitter of "life-threatening flash flooding of streams, highways and streets, as well as urban, low-lying and poorly drained areas."

The storm has already caused a fatality, with a man left dead when his house was swept away by flooding in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, when Fiona was still classified as a tropical storm.

US President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency for Puerto Rico on Sunday as Fiona approached the island, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance.

- 'Go to shelters' -

Puerto Rico's Governor Pedro Pierluisi told a news conference the previous day that "we are asking residents not to leave their homes and to go to shelters if they are in areas prone to landslides and flooding."

The island -- which has suffered from major infrastructure problems for years -- was hit by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, devastating its electrical grid.

The grid was privatized in June 2021 in an effort to resolve the problem of blackouts, but the issue has persisted, and the entire island lost power earlier this year.

Power outages were hitting Puerto Rico even before the full force of Hurricane Fiona struck, with more than 388,000 people without electricity, according to tracking website poweroutage.us.

The former Spanish colony became a US territory in the late 19th century before gaining the status of associated free state in 1950.

After years of financial woes and recession, in 2017 the island declared the largest bankruptcy ever by a local US administration. Later that year, hurricanes Irma and Maria added to the island's woes, and sparked a feud between San Juan and Washington.

Then-president Donald Trump's administration was widely accused of failing to provide sufficient federal aid to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria struck.

Footage of him tossing paper towels to survivors during a visit to the island drew criticism, and Trump later claimed the storm's death toll had been inflated by Democrats to "make me look as bad as possible."

H.El-Qemzy--DT