Hurricane Fiona, category 1, entered the Dominican Republic through Cabo San Rafael (east of the country), with winds of 140 kilometers per hour and higher gusts, after leaving “catastrophic” damage in Puerto Rico.
Fiona arrives in the Dominican Republic after displaying all her fury on Puerto Rico on Sunday (09.18.2022), where its heavy rains caused a general blackout, serious flooding and damage classified as “catastrophic”.
In its latest bulletin, the National Meteorological Office (Onamet) explained that, according to satellite and radar images, Fiona entered this local morning and at 04:00 local time (08:00 GMT) it was located about 20 kilometers southwest of Punta Cana, where moderate to strong rains and maximum sustained winds of 79 kilometers / hour are recorded, with a gust of about 124.
This hurricane, the third of the current cyclone season, is moving west/northwest at about 15 km/h. Hurricane-force winds extend about 45 kilometers outside its center and storm-force winds about 220 kilometers.
If it maintains its trajectory, Fiona’s center will move in the next few hours through different provinces of the country. Satellite images show dense and compact cloud activity that generates moderate to heavy downpours and storms in several provinces of the country and some sectors of Greater Santo Domingo, adds Onamet.
According to predictions, the accumulated rainfall will range between 100 and 300 millimeters, although it may be higher in isolated points and reach about 450 millimeters. Given this situation, the warning of urban flooding, flooding of rivers, streams and ravines, as well as landslides in several provinces of the country, is maintained.
Much of the Dominican Republic will be under the effects of the hurricane, so the entire country is on alert (thirteen provinces in red, the maximum, including Greater Santo Domingo and eighteen in yellow). The Dominican Executive declared this Monday a non-working day to try to minimize the risks. In schools, there are no classes.
The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands have also issued alerts and are preparing evacuations.