Thursday, March 28

Hurricane Fiona leaves two dead after passing through the Dominican Republic

Hurricane Fiona has left two dead after passing through the Dominican Republic. The first fatality was a 72-year-old man who fell on top of a tree in the municipality of Nagua, in the northeast of the country.

The second is an 18-year-old boy due to the fall of a power pole knocked down by strong winds in the province of La Altagracia. The Emergency Operations Center (COE) has detailed that the deceased suffered the impact of a power line pole when he was traveling on a motorcycle.

After causing serious damage in Puerto Rico, the cyclone made landfall on Monday in the Dominican Republic, where it has caused the displacement of some 12,500 people, power cuts, floods, overflowing rivers, the collapse of a bridge and fallen trees and poles. of light.

Now Fiona, already a category 3 hurricane, is hitting the Turks and Caicos Islands with maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour. The authorities of the Caribbean archipelago, which is under a hurricane warning, have asked the population to seek refuge and have ordered the closure of the airport, while its main hospital suspended all its services.

major disaster

The Governor of Puerto Rico, Pedro Pierluisi, announced this Tuesday that he is going to submit to the President of the United States, Joe Biden, a request for the declaration of a “major disaster” for the island due to the damage caused by Fiona.

“Today I will be submitting a request for a major disaster declaration to the president,” Pierluisi said at a press conference, explaining that he already told Biden yesterday by phone and that “he promised to give it priority.”

He also explained that the request for a major disaster gives rise to activating financial aid from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) for public assistance to offer emergency services and jobs to the victims.

This request will not include aid for permanent works, as this is done through another order that includes estimates of damage caused by the hurricane.

“I hope that the president accepts our request soon and, when that happens, FEMA will be fully available for the efforts of the Bureau for Emergency Management and Disaster Administration for recovery,” Pierluisi emphasized.

Fiona caused serious flooding in Puerto Rico, a general blackout and cut off the water supply to a large part of the population, although little by little the service is being restored.



www.eldiario.es