Severe flooding and widespread power outages in Puerto Rico due to Hurricane Ernesto

Puerto Rico suffered severe flooding and widespread power outages on Wednesday due to heavy rains brought by Tropical Storm Ernesto, which became a Category 1 hurricane as it passed north of the island.

The rains caused all the island’s rivers to be “close to or above their flood level,” according to meteorologist Ernesto Morales of the National Meteorological Service (SNM) at a press conference.

The weather agency warned of flash flooding across much of Puerto Rico early in the day and forecast total rainfall accumulations of between 6 and 10 inches (15 to 25 centimeters).

Floods force evacuations

One of the hardest hit areas was Toa Baja in the north, at the mouth of the La Plata River, where authorities had to evacuate several families because the water reached homes in neighbourhoods such as San José.

Inspector Robert Ramos Rosario, director of the Criminal Investigation Corps for the Bayamón area, explained to EFE that Highway 2 was closed for the safety of citizens due to the overflowing of the river.

“Every time there is an atmospheric event, this happens because the river comes from the mountainous area of ​​Barranquitas, Comerío, Cayey and Naranjito, and flows into this place,” he lamented.

One of the people who was unable to cross was Arsenio Inocencio Frías, an employee of Vaquería Los Nevarez, who tried to defy police security and take a shorter route to attend to the 300 cows he has to milk twice a day.

“I have to get there,” Frías told EFE, adding that floods “have happened many times in the area.”

Due to the opening of four floodgates of the La Plata dam, Toa Baja Emergency Management personnel advised citizens to evacuate the town area and the neighborhoods of Toaville, San José, Campanilla and Monserrate.

The municipality of Añasco also issued an evacuation order for the neighborhoods of Miraflores, Espino, Cidra, Pozo Hondo, Corcovada Abajo and Playa due to the imminent threat of flooding posed by the Rio Grande.

Other rivers that overflowed their banks were the Fajardo, Blanco, Jacaguas and Inabón. The waters of the latter invaded the PR-1 highway and the runway of the Mercedita International Airport in Ponce.

Dozens of roads were also blocked by flooding, landslides and fallen trees and power lines.

Half of the island in darkness

The rains and strong gusts of wind had their effect on the island’s weak electricity grid. A total of 734,645 customers, or 50.04%, have been without power since 17:00 local time (21:00 GMT), according to data from the company LUMA Energy.

Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi urged LUMA Energy to take action at a press conference, although he acknowledged that it is “difficult” to know when service will be restored since workers are currently on the street assessing the damage.

“I have asked the president of LUMA directly to restore the service as soon as possible. Obviously, the crews are on the street and there is a difference between when a line has fallen and when vegetation has merely touched a line and affected the service and the system was protected,” he said.

There are no problems at the power plants, so it is expected that once LUMA determines that there is no damage to the line, service will be restored to customers.

The power outage also affected plants or pumps in the drinking water supply service, leaving 304,575 subscribers (23%) without service, according to the latest available data.

As for air transport, Puerto Rico’s Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport soon resumed air operations, but the storm caused the cancellation of at least 145 flights between today and Tuesday.

In response to the damage caused by Ernesto, US President Joe Biden signed an emergency declaration on Wednesday to help Puerto Rico.

The objective is to provide adequate support to the 78 municipalities of the Commonwealth of the United States to “save lives, protect property, public safety and health, and minimize or prevent the threat of a catastrophe.”