Ernesto leaves hundreds of thousands of people without power in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hundreds of thousands of people were left without power in Puerto Rico as Hurricane Ernesto strengthened after passing north of the American territory on Wednesday morning.

LUMA Energy, the private company that operates the island’s electrical grid, reported that about 735,000 customers — half of the island — were without power. The number of homes without service appeared to be quickly rising as of Wednesday afternoon.

The storm is the latest natural disaster to cause widespread blackouts in Puerto Rico, an island where residents live with frequent power interruptions that ruin fridges and microwaves. The vulnerable power grid has been weakened by hurricanes and earthquakes over the last decade. LUMA said Tuesday that it had over 1,100 workers ready to be deployed to respond to the storm.

Ernest has blocked roads, felled trees and power lines, overflowed rivers, and triggered mudslides in mountainous areas. In parts of the municipality of Toa Baja on Puerto Rico’s northern coast, alarms blared on Wednesday morning to alert residents who live near the La Plata river that they needed to evacuate because of high water levels. About 80 flights were canceled by early afternoon at San Juan’s international airport. There were also 438 people in 96 storm shelters.

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi urged Puerto Ricans to stay home until the storm’s effects pass. Several municipalities had flood warning in effect. President Joe Biden also approved Federal Emergency Management Agency funds for Puerto Rico, the island’s officials said, in case they are necessary. That could include emergency generators and assistance for the island municipalities of Vieques and Culebra.

Cecille Villanueva, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in San Juan, told the Miami Herald that as much as 10 inches of rain had been reported in some mountainous areas of Puerto Rico, including in the rainforest of El Yunque. In southeastern Puerto Rico, which included the low-lying, flood-prone municipalities of Yabucoa and Maunabo, saw six to eight inches of rain. The threat of flooding across the island continued into Wednesday afternoon.

“We are still under the system’s effects, so this will continue for the next few hours,” Villanuevo said.

The storm also produced strong winds across Puerto Rico. In the offshore municipality of Culebra there was a gust of wind recorded at 80 mph.

Puerto Rico will continue seeing the effects of the storm at least through the middle of Wednesday, as Ernesto intensifies while moving northwards towards the Bermudas, Villanueva said.