By Ivelisse Rivera
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) -Tropical Storm Ernesto on Tuesday threatened to deliver heavy rainfall, harmful storm surges and robust winds to the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, main the U.S. territory to shut faculties and put together for energy outages.
The storm, final noticed northwest of the island of Guadalupe and carrying most winds of 45 miles per hour (75 km per hour), may strengthen right into a hurricane by Thursday after passing over Puerto Rico and veering north into the Atlantic, the Nationwide Hurricane Middle stated.
Ernesto – the fifth named storm of the season – is anticipated to overlook Florida and the U.S. Southeast, that are nonetheless reeling from Tropical Storm Debby.
Joseph Niskar, a lawyer who moved to Puerto Rico from Michigan after Hurricane Maria struck the island in 2017, is anticipating prolonged durations of time with out water or electrical energy, very similar to many on the island skilled throughout Hurricane Fiona in 2022.
“I bought a generator big enough to run my refrigerator and fans to keep cool, but will need gasoline that can be hard to get because a lot of people wait until the last minute and there can be long lines,” Niskar stated.
Final week, slow-moving Debby hit Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Class 1 hurricane, earlier than soaking some elements of the Carolinas with as much as 2 ft (0.6 meter) of rain.
Like Debby, Ernesto’s best risk is torrential rain, which may spur flash floods and landslides, particularly within the mountainous inside of Puerto Rico and close by Caribbean islands.
On Monday, Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi activated greater than 200 Nationwide Guard members and expedited meals advantages for households forward of the storm’s arrival. Authorities staff got the break day, excluding important personnel. Officers additionally postponed the primary day of college from Tuesday to later within the week.
Faculties within the Virgin Islands had been additionally shut down.
Puerto Rico, with its fragile energy grid, has a historical past of extremely damaging storms. In 2022, Hurricane Fiona knocked out energy for about 80% of the island’s clients. 5 years earlier, Hurricane Maria plunged the territory into darkness.
LUMA Vitality, the non-public operator of Puerto Rico’s transmission and distribution system, stated on X it had activated its emergency operations, mobilized crews forward of the storm, and suggested residents to brace for energy outages.
The storm is anticipated to cross elements of the Leeward Islands, which embrace Martinique, on Tuesday, reaching the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico by night.
Whole rainfall over the Leewards and Virgin Islands may attain as much as 6 inches (15 cm), whereas some spots in Puerto Rico may stand up to 10 inches (25 cm), the hurricane middle stated.
Storm surges may deliver water ranges as a lot as 3 ft (1 meter) above floor stage on Puerto Rico’s japanese coast and within the Virgin Islands, the middle stated.
