Ernesto blasts Puerto Rico with flooding rainfall, knocks out power to half of island

Heat and humidity could impact cleanup and recovery efforts on the islands where people have been left without power and air conditioning.

Ernesto intensified into a hurricane just north of Puerto Rico Wednesday morning, bringing torrential rainfall and strong winds that left hundreds of thousands without power in the United States territory.

"Parts of Puerto Rico have seen more than 10 inches of rainfall and wind gusts over 80 miles an hour,” said AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno.

Ernesto, now a Category 1 hurricane, had maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour as of 11 a.m. EDT. The hurricane’s center was located about 175 miles northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico, after making landfall in the British Virgin Islands and narrowly missing Puerto Rico.

More than 680,000 customers in Puerto Rico—just under half of the island’s customers—were without power on Wednesday, according to LUMA Energy, the company responsible for power transmission and distribution in Puerto Rico. The number of outages doubled within a few hours on Wednesday morning.

Heat and humidity could impact cleanup and recovery efforts on the islands, where people have been left without power and air conditioning. AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures are forecast to surpass 100 degrees Fahrenheit Thursday through Sunday in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  

While Ernesto will continue to track north away from Puerto Rico through the end of the week, building heat and humidity will become a concern, especially for those without power.

"The lack of power for some means that residents may struggle to find a break from the heat, even at night as temperatures fail to dip to cooler levels given an abundance of humidity," AccuWeather meteorologist Isaac Longley said. "Those having to clean up after the storm will want to make sure to take frequent breaks out of the sun and drink plenty of fluids to avoid heat-related illnesses."

“Nearly the entire island of Puerto Rico was under flash flood warnings Wednesday morning,” said AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva. “River gauges are rising quickly.” 

The Rio De La Plata at Comerio, Puerto Rico rose 10 feet this morning in one hour into Major Flooding stage. The station's reading of 20.98 feet this morning puts this in the number six spot for highest gauge reports since the station went into service in 1989.

Over 11 inches of rain fell at Aibonito (Barran) and Villalba. Mudslides or landslides were reported on half a dozen roads across Puerto Rico with flooding reports, including people trapped in homes or cars, at nearly two dozen locations. Trees and electrical lines downed by high winds were also reported at more than 10 spots.

A storm surge of up to 3-6 feet is forecast for portions of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, even as the center of Ernesto pulls away from the islands.

In the U.S. Virgin Islands, around 32,000 customers, or about 65% of the island’s tracked customers, were without power, according to PowerOutage.us.

“I know it was a long night listening to that wind howl,” U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. said in a news conference.

An island-wide blackout was reported in St. John and St. Croix, and at least six cell phone towers were knocked offline across the U.S. territory, said Daryl Jaschen, emergency management director.

In preparation for the storm, Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi mobilized the National Guard and urged residents to shelter in their homes. Public schools across the island were closed, and nearly 80 shelters were opened.

Residents were also warned to prepare for widespread power outages. The island’s fragile and outdated electrical grid is still undergoing repairs after being severely damaged by Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Power outages are a common frustration for Puerto Ricans, who have seen slow progress in modernizing an electrical grid that remains highly vulnerable to natural disasters.

LUMA Energy stated that it has mobilized crews across the islands to address outages. LUMA’s president, Juan Saca, encouraged people to report blackouts, noting that the utility might not be aware to all of them.

“Puerto Rico’s electrical system is not sufficiently modernized to detect power outages,” Saca said on Tuesday, as reported by The Associated Press.

Ernesto is expected to move into the open Atlantic waters later on Wednesday, where it is forecast to strengthen into a major hurricane. However, its impact will continue to be felt across parts of the Caribbean throughout the day.

AccuWeather expert meteorologists are urging people in Bermuda and Atlantic Canada to prepare for direct impacts from Ernesto starting this weekend.

Ernesto is a 1 on the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes in the northeastern Caribbean and 3 in Bermuda due to concerns for damaging winds, flooding and storm surge.

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