The eye of newly formed Hurricane Fiona neared the coast of Puerto Rico on Sunday — already leaving hundreds of thousands without power and threatening to dump "historic" levels of rain. Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi posted on Facebook on Sunday afternoon that "the electrical system is currently out of service" for the entire island.
The National Hurricane Center said that radar data indicated Hurricane Fiona made landfall along the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico near Punta Tocon at 3:20 pm ET. It had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph.
Forecasters said the downpour was expected to produce landslides and catastrophic flooding, with up to 25 inches (64 centimeters) possible in isolated areas.
"It's time to take action and be concerned," said Nino Correa, Puerto Rico's emergency management commissioner.
President Biden declared a state of emergency in the U.S. territory as the eye of the storm approached the island's southwest corner.
Fiona knocked out power to more than 720,000 customers and several health institutions, including Puerto Rico's largest public hospital, which was running on generators. Health Secretary Carlos Mellado said crews were working to repair generators as soon as possible at the Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Anxiety ran high across the island with Fiona due just two days before the anniversary of Hurricane Maria, a devastating Category 4 storm that hit on Sept. 20, 2017, destroying the island's power grid and causing nearly 3,000 deaths.
More than 3,000 homes still have only a blue tarp as a roof, and infrastructure remains weak.
"I think all of us Puerto Ricans who lived through Maria have that post-traumatic stress of, 'What is going to happen, how long is it going to last and what needs might we face?'" said Danny Hernández, who works in the capital of San Juan but planned to weather the storm with his parents and family in the western town of Mayaguez.
He said the atmosphere was gloomy at the supermarket as he and others stocked up before the storm hit.
"After Maria, we all experienced scarcity to some extent," he said.
The storm was forecast to pummel cities and towns along Puerto Rico's southern coast that have not yet fully recovered from a string of strong earthquakes that hit the region starting in late 2019.
Officials reported several road closures across the island as
trees and small landslides blocked access.
More than 640 people with some 70 pets had sought shelter across the island by Saturday night, the majority of them in the southern coast.