Cat 1 Hurricane Ernesto hits Puerto Rico & Virgin Islands, extensive flooding reported

Ernesto eventually became a Category 1 Hurricane on Wednesday after hitting Puerto Rico overnight. With maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour, the hurricane knocked out power to more than 64000 customers in Puerto Rico and 28000 in the Virgin Islands.

According to the information, the storm caused extensive flooding, especially in the eastern and southern regions, which led to school closures and the shutdown of government agencies.

Hospitals are also struggling to maintain critical operations and are forced to rely on generators as widespread power outages cripple essential services across Puerto Rico.

Meanwhile, the hurricane’s relentless rain with some area receiving more than 10 inches has caused significant flooding across the territory.

The weather experts reported that the center of then-Tropical Storm Ernesto passed within 40 miles of San Juan, Puerto Rico during early Wednesday while generating strong winds and heavy rains.

It is being said that the flash flooding risk continues in Puerto Rico after Ernesto strengthened into a hurricane and continues to move away from the island. A Hurricane Watch for Bermuda could be issued later today.

A service provider in the territory, LUMA, also reported that the eastern and central regions of the island were the most impacted. It stated that only power lines are down, not the infrastructure that delivers power, and they will need 24 to 48 hours to assess the damage before providing a particular timeframe for repairing the lines.

Furthermore, the officials are also asking people to leave their homes only if necessary, as several villages are completely isolated due to the river levels and several routes being closed.

As of 5 am on Thursday, Hurricane Ernesto will keep track safely off the east coast, though Bermuda will likely be impacted on Saturday as the storm moves closer to the island.

Following this, it is anticipated to move north toward Newfoundland next week as a strong ocean storm and at that point, it will likely no longer be a tropical system.

Another expert pointed out that “Hurricane Ernesto will gain strength today and become a major hurricane by Friday. It will impact Bermuda Friday night through Saturday. Ernesto will bring high rip current risk to Tybee and Hilton Head beaches tomorrow through the weekend.”

Moreover, the forecasters are also predicting that the hurricane will slow down near Bermuda and maybe only slightly come down from peak intensity, but it will be basically a direct hit, with the eye possibly passing only very slightly west of the island on Saturday.