(San Juan) Hurricane Fiona was heading towards the Turks and Caicos Islands on Tuesday after transforming into a Category 3 monster. The leaders of the archipelago have imposed a curfew.
Posted at 8:10 a.m.
Meteorologists predict that Fiona will pass close to the capital of the British territory, Grand Turk, on Tuesday morning.
Prime Minister Washington Misick recalled in a press release that “storms are unpredictable”. He asked his fellow citizens to “take all precautions to ensure their safety”.
Early Tuesday, Fiona swirled 30 kilometers southeast of the main island. It was generating sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour and was sliding northwest at 17 kilometers per hour.
The storm dumped heavy rains on Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
A 58-year-old man has died in Puerto Rico after being swept away by a river in the center of the island. Another 70-year-old man was burned to death when he tried to fill his generator with gasoline while it was running.
The National Guard rescued a thousand people in Puerto Rico, which received up to 75 centimeters of rain in some places. Multiple mudslides are also reported.
One fatality is reported in the Dominican Republic, that of a man who was crushed by a tree. The storm displaced some 12,500 people and cut off at least two communities from the world.
Several highways were blocked and at least four international airports closed, officials said.
Fiona had previously killed one person in Guadeloupe.