Hurricane Ernesto knocked out power to half of Puerto Rico and is strengthening

CNN
 — 

Hurricane Ernesto unloaded flooding rainfall on Puerto Rico as it pulled away from the island Wednesday afternoon after its strong winds knocked out power to hundreds of thousands there and in the Virgin Islands.

The Category 1 hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph as of 8 p.m. EDT, a 5 mph jump since the previous advisory, according to the National Hurricane Center.

“Strengthening is forecast during the next couple of days, and Ernesto could become a major hurricane by Friday,” the hurricane center said. A storm of Category 3 or higher is considered a major hurricane.

The storm’s center was more than 300 miles northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico, by Wednesday afternoon but the rain continued on the island Wednesday evening. After passing over the Virgin Islands on Tuesday and then sidestepping Puerto Rico, Ernesto was more than 700 miles from Bermuda as of the center’s 8 p.m. update.

Strong winds extended far from its center and gusted in excess of 74 mph – hurricane-strength – in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. On Wednesday afternoon, the Bermuda Weather Service issued a hurricane watch for the island, indicating tropical storm-force winds could reach its beaches by Friday afternoon.

Over the next few days, forecasters expect Ernesto to turn to the north and northeast, placing its core – and hurricane-force winds – near Bermuda by Saturday morning or early afternoon.

In Puerto Rico, about half of all customers on the island were at one point without power Wednesday, according to LUMA Energy, the private company that operates the transmission and distribution of power in Puerto Rico. By Wednesday evening, the number was down to about 650,000.

In the US Virgin Islands, almost 28,000 customers were without power, which is about 55% of the island’s tracked customers, according to PowerOutage.us.

More than half a foot of rain fell in Puerto Rico and the storm’s trailing bands of storms continued to unload it Wednesday afternoon, causing flash flooding — especially in the eastern and southern parts of Puerto Rico and in the Virgin Islands.

Multiple flash flood warnings were still in effect Wednesday evening afternoon for northern parts of Puerto Rico.

Intense rainfall and flooding caused several rivers to flood in Puerto Rico and interrupted water filtration processes at a number of water processing plants to varying degrees, according to the island’s water authority.

These interruptions left more than 120,000 water customers – about 10% of total customers – without drinking water early Wednesday afternoon, according to the island’s emergency portal system.

Ernesto has made its way into open Atlantic waters, but its force was still felt across parts of the Caribbean through much of the day.

Along Puerto Rico’s eastern coastline, storm surge raised water levels by 1 to 3 feet early Wednesday. Life-threatening swells and rip tides could prove dangerous for anyone in the water through the weekend.

Ahead of the storm, Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi mobilized the National Guard and urged people to shelter in their homes. Across the island, public schools are closed and nearly 80 shelters have been opened.

Residents had been warned to brace for widespread power outages as the island’s fragile and outdated electrical grid is still being repaired after it was crippled by Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Power outages are a familiar frustration among Puerto Ricans, many of whom have witnessed painstakingly slow efforts to modernize an electrical grid that remains highly vulnerable to natural disasters.

LUMA Energy said it has mobilized crews across the islands to respond to outages. And LUMA’s president, Juan Saca, urged people to report blackouts, noting the utility may not be aware of them all.

“Puerto Rico’s electrical system is not sufficiently modernized to detect power outages,” Saca said Tuesday, The Associated Press reported.

Ernesto began curving gradually to the north on Wednesday, bringing it away from the Caribbean and into open Atlantic waters, where it is expected to strengthen…