SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Ricans filled up shopping carts with plantains, cans of beans and milk cartons at San Juan supermarkets in preparation for the arrival of Tropical Storm Ernesto, which is expected to bring extensive rainfall across the island.

Young adults read handwritten shopping lists out loud to their grandparents. Signs on towers of water gallons announced to customers that they could only take four boxes at a time. Workers brought out candles and battery lamps on sale.

Among the aisles was Luz Rivera, a 46-year-old restaurant manager who lives with her two teenage sons in the Residencial Luis Llorens Torres, the island’s biggest public housing complex. She picked up a quarter of a pumpkin for a bean stew, among other cooking supplies. She stayed away from getting too many goods needing refrigeration, anticipating power outages.

Rivera told the Miami Herald that she was not scared of Ernesto’s passing. But devastating Hurricane Maria in September 2017, which killed thousands of people and destroyed critical infrastructure, had made clear the importance of being ready for storms.

“I don’t want to buy too much either, but I do want to buy the basics,” she said.

Puerto Rico was under a tropical storm warning Tuesday head of Ernesto’s arrival during the early morning hours Wednesday, while its island municipalities of Vieques and Culebra off the eastern coast were under a hurricane watch. Over the last couple of days, government officials have emphasized the urgency in preparing for Ernesto and the rest of this year’s Atlantic storm season, which is approaching its peak. The National Hurricane Center said in its 5 p.m. advisory that the storm will become a hurricane after it passes close to Puerto Rico on its way to the Atlantic.

“Our people should take the necessary precautions. It’s going to pass very close to Puerto Rico,” said Gov. Pedro Pierluisi during a press conference on Tuesday. Several shelters were already open.

Many residents of the island appeared to heed the warnings, and were out and about getting their last-minute preparations done. Cars lined up to get gas at stations in San Juan. But some Puerto Ricans have said that the response of some people to Ernesto has been disproportionate and irrational.

“It’s a tropical storm. You have to be prepared, but not exaggerate,” said Ricardo Hernandez, a 56-year-old Uber driver who was picking up passengers around San Juan on Tuesday.

Others pointed out that those who live in vulnerable houses or areas prone to flooding have reason for concern, as well as those who don’t have enough money to prepare properly, a scenario not uncommon on an island where many live paycheck to paycheck. And, they stressed, the shadow of Maria on the island’s collective memory could not be overestimated.

“We’ve gone through things that already have us scared,” said Altagracia Severino, 77. She called Maria, which tore off a small part of her roof nearly seven years ago, “devastating.”

Miriam Torres, a Pennsylvania resident who accompanied her 86-year-old mother to shop for protein shakes, canned goods, and other necessities, was concerned because their home in Barrio Obrero, a working-class neighborhood sandwiched between a channel and a lagoon, is in a flood zone. Both Maria and Hurricane Fiona, a Category 1 storm in 2002, caused flooding in the area.

While San Juan will likely see several inches of rainfall, the island’s southeast could experience the largest amounts. That region of the island, which is coastal, low-lying, and full of creeks and rivers, could get as much as eight inches of rain, with some locations getting as much as 10 inches, according to the National Hurricane Center. Ernesto will bring between two to four inches of rain to the island’s northwest.

“The main risk with this storm is going to be the rain because there will be a lot of it in places where there is a significant risk for flooding. We could see overflowing rivers and landslides in steeper municipalities,” said San Juan-based National Weather Service meteorologist Emanuel Rodriguez.

Living with flashlights and candles

Several shoppers at San Juan’s supermarkets said that power outages were very likely or certain to take place. A string of natural disasters over the past decade, including hurricanes, storms and earthquakes, have weakened Puerto Rico’s already vulnerable power grid. Category 1 Hurricane Fiona triggered an island-wide blackout in 2022.

“Even if the sky spits out a little bit of water, the power goes out,” said Maria Calderon, 56, who was buying ingredients to make the popular cooking base known as sofrito, and soup.

Frequent power outages are part of everyday life on the island. Rivera, the 46-year-old mother, estimated that the power in the public housing complex where she lives goes out on average at least once a week. The family does not own a generator.

“We’re going to be living with flashlights and candles,” Rivera said. “Our electric system is archaic.”

LUMA Energy, the private company in charge of Puerto Rico’s electrical grid, said in a statement on Tuesday that its main priority was to prepare for Ernesto and respond as quickly as possible. The company said it had activated its emergency centers and mobilized over 1,000 employees.

On Monday, LUMA’s president, Juan Saca, said that power interruptions were likely should winds hit 50 mph or higher. Ernesto’s maximum sustained winds were 60 miles per hour as of Tuesday evening.

When asked by reporters during the Tuesday press conference about what would happen if there was a prolonged period of outages, Pierluisi said to not get ahead of the situation just yet.

“Let’s stay positive about our ability to respond to this storm,” he said.

Yefrey Manuel Herrera, a 33-year-old San Juan resident, was planning to pick up a generator so he could keep his fridge running in case of blackouts. He said Ernesto had many older people in his community feeling scared.

“You don’t know what will happen, if it’s going to be as bad as Maria. That time there was a lot of terrible damage.”

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