Thousands in Puerto Rico without power, under flood threats as Ernesto turns into hurricane

Puerto Rico remained under a tropical storm watch as Ernesto turned into a Category 1 hurricane late Wednesday morning.

Alarms began ringing in the municipality of Toa Baja on Wednesday morning, warning residents who live in the western part of the town to evacuate their homes as incessant rain from Ernesto overflowed the main river there, exposing more families to dangerous floods.

The National Weather Service in San Juan warned that while Ernesto is located north of Puerto Rico, the U.S. territory “will continue to be affected by heavy rains, and strong gusty winds.”

Nearly 640,000 power clients had no power as of 11 a.m. AST, according to the Puerto Rico Emergency Portal System. Government officials had anticipated widespread power outages across the island, as Puerto Rico’s fragile electric grid has not been permanently rebuilt since Hurricane Maria razed it in 2017.

Puerto Rican Secretary of Public Safety Alexis Torres told reporters Wednesday that strong winds have caused debris and large amounts of vegetation to fall, blocking roads and bringing down power lines.

Torres also said heavy rains have caused at least three major rivers to burst out of their banks, threatening the safety of hundreds of families.

Unsafe conditions

In speaking with Telemundo Puerto Rico, NBC’s sister TV station on the island, the mayors of four towns have said the conditions have made it unsafe for residents to be outside their homes or shelters.

Roads and bridges in the towns of Cidra, Jayuya, Guayama and Toa Baja have been blocked due to floods and debris.

In the coastal town of Luquillo, residents used their own machetes and chainsaws to clear debris and vegetation blocking the only road the community can use to exit in case of an emergency.

Elizabeth Nieves Jimenez of Toa Baja told Telemundo Puerto Rico she heard the alarm and evacuated her home. She’s one of about a dozen residents who arrived at the town’s shelter voluntarily late Wednesday morning. It had no power and personnel working at the shelter were trying to get a generator going.

At least 375 people were in shelters islandwide as of 9:30 a.m. AST, according to data published in the Puerto Rico Emergency Portal System.

Luma Energy, the private company in charge of power distribution in Puerto Rico, had not deployed its emergency brigades as of late morning Wednesday because conditions remained too unsafe to be outside.

“I understand that they have to ensure their safety, but the people need them,” Ángel David Concepción, mayor of Cidra, told Telemundo Puerto Rico in Spanish, adding that most of his town’s residents have no power or water. Water pumps in most parts of Puerto Rico are powered by electricity.

About 120,000 customers didn’t have water as of 11:15 a.m. AST, according to data published in the Puerto Rico Emergency Portal System.

Flash flood warnings were also issued for much of Puerto Rico for the rest of the day.