Puerto Rico declares emergency and activates National Guard over water outages
Nearly 180,000 customers were affected at the peak of the outage late last week. As of Wednesday, nearly 3,000 customers were still without water, including nearly a dozen hotels, according to Gov. Jenniffer González .
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2 hours ago
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Tropical Storm Erin expected to become season's first hurricane by Friday
Tropical Storm Erin is barreling toward Puerto Rico — and could become the season's first hurricane before the end of the week. Sweeping through the Atlantic Ocean, Erin is heading toward Puerto Rico, the Leeward Islands, and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. It is forecast to become a 'large and formidable major hurricane' as soon as Friday, the National Hurricane Center said in a Thursday night advisory. The tropical storm is expected to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane on Friday and then 'rapidly intensify' into a Category 3 hurricane by Saturday afternoon, Alex DaSilva, AccuWeather's lead hurricane expert, said in a statement Thursday. 'There is a window of opportunity where Erin could explode into a Category 4 hurricane in the Atlantic,' DaSilva warned. Heavy rains and flash floods could ravage the islands this weekend and into next week, the National Hurricane Center predicted. On Thursday night, Erin was 690 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands, with maximum sustained winds whipping at 70 mph. NOAA aircraft data indicates Erin is 'near hurricane strength,' the hurricane center warned Thursday evening. A tropical storm watch was in effect for Anguilla and Barbuda, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy, Saba and St. Eustatius, and Sint Maarten. The storm killed at least nine people this week in Cape Verde's island of Sao Vicente, where torrential rains, strong winds, and flash floods slammed the area, according to a report from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Five people were missing and 1,500 people were displaced due to the storm. The government declared a state of emergency. In preparation for when the hurricane makes landfall, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced he was deploying resources from his home state to Puerto Rico. 'I just approved the deployment of California resources to Puerto Rico ahead of Tropical Storm Erin,' he wrote in a statement shared to social media on Thursday evening. 'We're glad to help coordinate life-saving response to Americans in harm's way.' The Federal Emergency Management Agency also said it 'stands ready to support local officials in Puerto Rico & the U.S.V.I. who are leading the preparation & response efforts as Tropical Storm #Erin threatens to impact the islands.' The agency wrote in a statement: 'Our teams are on the ground and staging resources, including generators ahead of the storm.' Erin is the fifth storm named this hurricane season, which spans from June 1 through November 30.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Hurricane Erin dramatically shifts trajectory after lashing the Caribbean with rain and high winds
Hurricane Erin made a sudden shift in trajectory as Category 2 winds raced towards the U.S. East Coast. Days after 130mph winds and torrential rainfall battered the Caribbean and left tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans without power, fears grew that Erin would slam into the U.S. as a Category 2 hurricane this week. In an early morning advisory on Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami confirmed the storm was unlikely to make U.S. landfall after veering northwest toward open waters. Erin's winds weakened to 100mph by 5 a.m. ET, as it churned over the Atlantic Ocean about 455 miles south-south-east from the North Carolina coast. While the East Coast has been spared the cyclone's full force, the National Hurricane Center issued a blizzard of warnings, including 'life-threatening surf and rip currents' for the U.S., Bahamas, Bermuda, and Atlantic Canada throughout this week. Storm surge-induced flooding and tropical storm conditions, including bruising winds and heavy rains, were expected to begin on Wednesday in the North Carolina Outer Banks. Along with large swells, 4ft waves were expected to spill over sea walls, making some roads 'impassable.' New York City closed its beaches to swimming on Wednesday and Thursday, and Governor Kathy Hochul ordered three state beaches on Long Island to prohibit swimming through Thursday. Off Massachusetts, Nantucket Island could see waves of more than 10 feet later this week. Tropical storm conditions could strike Virginia's southeastern coast and Bermuda on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said. The National Hurricane Center warned that strong winds were possible between Thursday and Saturday in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern New England coasts and Atlantic Canada. Mandatory evacuations were ordered for Hatteras Island and Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks ahead of the expected flooding. The worst conditions were expected late Wednesday through Thursday as the eye of the storm is likely to be at the closest point to the coast, carving a path between the East Coast and Bermuda. Erin is expected to grow with tropical-storm-force winds extending 265 miles from its center before it is expected to begin weakening by Friday, the agency said. Satellite imagery and reports from a U.S. Air Force Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicated that Erin 'is getting better organized, and slow strengthening is expected through Thursday night.' Erin, the first Atlantic hurricane of 2025, exploded to a ferocious Category 5 on Saturday before being downgraded to a Category 3 early Sunday morning, then regaining strength again later in the day. The storm brought flooding, rainfall, high surf, and strong winds across Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the northern Leeward Islands. Lifeguards in North Carolina made more than 75 rescues from rip currents along the Wrightsville area coastline on Monday, prompting a no-swim order through Friday, according to the Wilmington Star-News. By Tuesday, it lashed the Turks and Caicos Islands, where government services were suspended and residents were ordered to stay home, along with parts of the Bahamas.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Winds complicate wildfire battle in Spain
High winds on Wednesday hampered efforts to contain wildfires in Spain that have already scorched a record stretch of land despite lower temperatures, authorities said. Firefighters, backed by troops and water-dropping aircraft, were battling 21 blazes in the west of the country classified as "operational level two", meaning they pose a direct threat to nearby communities, said Virginia Barcones, director general of emergency services. "Temperatures have dropped, but strong gusts of wind continue to hinder firefighting efforts, and the lack of rain is not helping, though we hope that changes in the coming days," she told a news conference. Forecasters said winds were expected to ease later in the day, with higher humidity levels likely to help efforts. Rain was forecast in some fire-hit regions Thursday. Spain endured a 16-day heat wave that ended Monday, with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius in many regions. The heat fuelled wildfires that have killed four people. Dozens of villages have been evacuated. Train service between Madrid and the northwestern region of Galicia -- suspended on August 14 due the fires -- would resume because "tracks are now safe", railway operator Adif said. Officials said many of the fires were sparked by lightning during dry storms, though arson is suspected in some cases. Aircraft from Italy, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Slovenia have joined the firefighting effort. Germany sent 60 firefighters and 24 vehicles, France deployed 66 firefighters and 23 vehicles while Finland sent 26 firefighters. Nearly 400,000 hectares (988,000 acres) have burned in Spain this year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. That surpasses the previous record of 306,000 hectares in 2022, the worst season since records began in 2006. Scientists say climate change is driving longer, more intense and more frequent heat waves around the world. Lower humidity in the air, vegetation and soil makes it easier for wildfires to ignite and harder to control them once they start. ds/mdm/giv
