While Bermuda and Canada’s Atlantic provinces braced themselves for a strong onslaught from the Category 4 hurricane, President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the federal government is prepared to use all of its resources to assist Puerto Rico in recovering from the destruction of Hurricane Fiona.
Joe Biden Vowed
"We're all in this together, during a briefing with Federal Emergency Management Agency officials in New York." said Joe Biden
In Puerto Rico, where Hurricane Fiona triggered an island-wide blackout, Joe Biden pointed out that hundreds of FEMA and other federal employees are already present.
That seemed to contrast with the previous administration of Donald Trump, who was heavily criticised for his ineffective reaction to Hurricane Maria, which left some Puerto Ricans without power for 11 months. On Thursday, a third of customers were without water and more than 60% of customers without power; local officials acknowledged they were unable to predict when service would be fully restored.
We're with you, Joe Biden stated in a statement to the Puerto Ricans still suffering as a result of Hurricane Maria five years ago. We won't just turn around.
The hurricane was still at Category 4 strength late on Thursday as it approached Bermuda, where authorities opened shelters and declared Friday a holiday for businesses and schools. Fiona was forecast to still be a sizable and extremely deadly storm when it made landfall in the Atlantic provinces of Canada, most likely late on Friday.
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Bob Robichaud’s Statement
Bob Robichaud said, "When everything is said and done, Bob Robichaud, a warning readiness meteorologist for the Canadian Hurricane Centre, predicted that the storm would be one that everyone would remember."
Nancy Galarza’s Confession
Four days after the hurricane struck the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, hundreds of residents were still cut off by roads. Frustration was growing for residents like Nancy Galarza, who tried to call out for assistance from work crews she saw in the distance.
She motioned to the workers at the base of the mountain who were assisting others who had also been cut off by the storm, saying, "Everyone go over there.Nobody comes to see us here. I am concerned about everyone in this town that is senior."
The slender road leading to her settlement in the rugged highlands around the northern town of Caguas is blocked by at least five landslides. The sole access to the settlement is via steep mud, rock, and debris mounds that Fiona left behind after her floodwaters violently shook the foundations of surrounding dwellings.
A 47-year-old school janitor named Vanessa Flores recalled that “the rocks made a thunderous boom. I’ve never heard that in my entire life. That was awful.”
In order to create a passage to the San Salvador hamlet on Thursday, city authorities who were working in the pouring rain evacuated at least one elderly woman who needs oxygen.
Ramiro Figueroa, 63, claimed that despite rescue workers’ pleading, his bedridden 97-year-old father would not leave the house. His sister’s pickup truck, which had been swept down the hill during the storm, as well as dirt, boulders, and branches had blocked their road.
Soldiers from the National Guard and others delivered two bottles of apple juice, water, cereal, and canned peaches.
As he saw the devasted environment where a river had altered its path and destroyed the hamlet, Figueroa observed, “That has helped me much.”
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According to Luis González, municipal inspector of recovery and restoration, at least eight of Caguas’ 11 communities are totally cut off. One of at least six municipalities whose crews have not yet reached all regions is this one. People there frequently rely on assistance from their neighbours, as they did in the wake of Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm that killed up to 3,000 people in 2017.
"Miguel Veguilla claimed that he cleared the area of debris after Hurricane Maria using picks and shovels. Fiona, on the other hand, caused enormous landslides."
“I cannot throw those rocks over my shoulder,” he said.
Veguilla claims there is a natural water source close by but does not have access to electricity or water, like hundreds of thousands of other people in Puerto Rico.
The 31-year-old Danciel Rivera wanted to spread some joy by masquerading as a clown when he and a church group first arrived in rural Caguas.
He noted that individuals had never fully recovered from Hurricane Maria and that was crucial at this time. PTSD has become more prevalent recently.
As he greeted people, their faces lit up as they grinned at him. His enormous clown shoes squelched through the mud.
According to the government of Puerto Rico, 62% of the island’s 1.47 million clients without electricity on Thursday. More over 400,000 people, or one-third of all subscribers, lacked water service.
In New York, Biden stated that “too many homes and businesses are still without power,” adding that extra utility personnel were scheduled to visit the island to assist in power restoration in the coming days.
Areas less hit by Fiona should have energy by Friday morning, according to Josué Colón, executive director of Puerto Rico’s Electric Energy Authority. Officials refused to provide a timeline for when electricity would be restored to the most severely affected areas, saying instead that they were working to get hospitals and other critical infrastructure powered up first.
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Some official Estimations
Officials from the local and federal governments have not offered a general estimate of the harm caused by the storm, which in some places dumped up to 30 inches of rain.
Fiona had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph), according to the U.S. centre, late on Thursday. It was situated around 195 miles (315 kilometres) west of Bermuda and moving at a speed of 21 mph in the north-northeast (33 kph).
Up to 115 miles (185 kilometres) from the centre, hurricane-force winds and tropical storm-force winds, respectively, were present 275 miles (445 kilometers).
David Burt Urged to People
David Burt, the premier of Bermuda, urged in a tweet to people that "take care of yourself and your family.Let's all keep in mind to check on and watch out for our elders, loved ones, and neighbours. Stay secure."
A hurricane watch was issued by the Canadian Hurricane Centre for large portions of the coasts of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island.
Because the storms lose their primary source of energy when they enter colder waters, hurricanes are not common in Canada. and move outside the tropics. Although those cyclones no longer have a warm core and no visible eye, they can nonetheless produce winds equivalent to hurricanes. They may also differ in terms of shape. They become less symmetrical and can take on a more comma-like appearance.
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At least five fatalities have been linked to Fiona thus far, including two in Puerto Rico, two in the Dominican Republic, and one in Guadeloupe, a French overseas territory.
In Tuesday, Fiona also made landfall on the Turks and Caicos Islands, although there were no fatalities and only little damage, according to local authorities.
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