Storm Fiona strengthens into a hurricane as it approaches the US island of Puerto Rico

The passage of tropical storm Fiona in Guadeloupe caused one death and multiple damage on Saturday.

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Storm Fiona strengthened into a hurricane on Sunday September 18 as it approached the coast of the American island of Puerto Rico, after sweeping Guadeloupe where it caused major flooding and killed one person on Saturday. Fiona is currently 80 kilometers from the city of Ponce on the south coast of Puerto Rico, carrying winds blowing up to 130 km / h and threatening the archipelago with torrential rains and mudslides, according to the latest bulletin from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), based in Miami, Florida (USA).

>> Storm Fiona: “Images of desolation” in Guadeloupe, describes the mayor of Basse-Terre

It is currently a Category 1 hurricane, the lowest category on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane classification, which has five. Hurricane Fiona, however, is expected to “further strengthening within 48 hours as it moves near Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic”said the US weather services.

US President Joe Biden on Sunday approved Puerto Rico’s declaration of a state of emergency, a measure that will release federal funds for relief, coordinated by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency Fema.

Fiona has already caused serious damage during her visit to Guadeloupe overnight from Friday to Saturday. In places, the water rose more than 1.50 meters. A man died there, carried away with his house by the waves of a flooded river. With the warming of the surface of the oceans, the frequency of the most intense hurricanes, with more violent winds and more important precipitations, increases.


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