Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands brace for Beryl, and first test of defences
YABUCOA, PUERTO RICO — Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands braced for heavy rains and strong winds as remnants of the season’s first hurricane provided an initial test of how far they’ve recovered from last year’s devastating storms.
The remnants of hurricane Beryl are causing power outages in Puerto Rico, where officials have been scrambling for months to repair the devastation caused by last year’s hurricane Maria.
Officials say some 24,000 customers have already lost power and conditions are expected to deteriorate further.
Tropical storm Beryl disintegrated after rushing over Dominica and into the eastern Caribbean, but the U.S. National Hurricane Center said the remnants still could bring 50 to 80 millimetres of rain pounding down on homes still damaged by September’s hurricane Maria. Forecasters said this could unleash flooding and landslides in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Some 60,000 people in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, still have only tarps for roofs blown off by Maria; and more than 1,500 customers are still without power more than nine months after the storm.
The Category 5 hurricane caused more than $100 billion in damage, killed at least dozens of people and destroyed up to 75 per cent of electricity transmission lines.
The U.S. National Weather Service issued an alert warning that heavy showers and winds of more than 80 km/h were approaching Puerto Rico’s east coast Monday morning. The storm’s centre was expected to pass just south of the island.
The U.S. Virgin Islands, meanwhile, announced that schools and government offices would be closed in St. Croix.
Beryl, which had been the Atlantic season’s first hurricane, was losing tropical storm status late Sunday when it crossed Dominica, another island that had been battered by Hurricane Maria, which hit as a Category 5 storm and killed dozens.
Marshall Alexander, with Dominica’s Meteorological Service, told The Associated Press that no landslides or widespread flooding has been reported. A curfew also has been lifted.
“Definitely, we were spared the worst.” The storm’s remnants were expected to pass just south of Puerto Rico, which could see sustained winds of 25 to 40 km/h and gusts of up to 80 km/h, forecasters said. It also dumped torrential rain in the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Croix, with the National Weather Service warning of winds of more than 30 m.p.h. and fallen trees and light posts.
Those living near Puerto Rico’s south coast, the first region hit by Maria, were wary of the new storm even if it was no longer a hurricane.
“We’re a little bit scared because of what we’ve been through,” said Jose Bultron, a delivery person in the southeast town of Humacao. “This brings back memories . ... But we forge ahead.”
Flooding is a big concern for those still living in homes that have not been fully rebuilt since Maria. Lourdes De Jesus, who travelled from West Springfield, Mass., to help repair her mother’s house in southeast Yabucoa, said the roof consists of tarp and recycled zinc, and leaks even during a light storm.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” she said. “We don’t have the money to spend on zinc roofing.”
Meanwhile, Tropical storm Chris was squatting on Monday about 350 kilometres off the coast of the Carolinas. Forecasters expect it will gain hurricane strength before moving up Gulfstream waters on a path that could cause life-threatening surf on East Coast beaches this week.
Chris had top winds of 95 km/h Monday morning, and was expected to remain nearly stationary through Tuesday before moving northeastward as a hurricane. It was far enough out to sea that no coastal watches or warnings were in effect, even for the closest point of land, Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.