Puerto Rico declared a state of emergency as Tropical Storm Dorian, which is growing as it moves across the Caribbean, could be upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane when it nears the island still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Maria.
Dorian, the fourth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, has gathered strength since forming as a tropical depression Saturday.
The center of the storm was around 275 miles southeast of Ponce, Puerto Rico, which is on the southern coast of the island, and was moving northwest at 13 mph Tuesday night, the National Hurricane Center said.
“For Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic, tomorrow morning, tomorrow evening, during the day — got to wrap things up when it comes to preparedness,” National Hurricane Center Ken Graham said in a video briefing earlier Tuesday.
While there is some uncertainty about the intensity of the storm, he said “either way it’s going to be a lot of rainfall.”
Puerto Rico was under a hurricane watch as well as a tropical storm warning, and tropical storm warnings were also in effect for Vieques, an island off its eastern coast, as well as for the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The storm’s effects are expected to be felt in Puerto Rico by Wednesday afternoon and travel up to Hispaniola later that night. Forecasters say Dorian will then head toward the Bahamas on Friday and Saturday and reach Southeastern Florida by early Sunday.
Some on Puerto Rico are concerned. In San Juan, volunteers went door to door to make sure residents are prepared. Many homes in Puerto Rico are still covered by blue tarps after Hurricane Maria.
Jorge Ortiz, a 50-year-old construction worker who had the second floor of his house ripped off by that hurricane and just finished rebuilding three months ago without local or federal assistance, told the Associated Press that he was worried he would “lose it again.”
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz said that they are prepared, but, “We’re scared. We know what may be coming.”
If the storm goes across the Dominican Republic and Haiti, the mountains might weaken it, but if it stays over the ocean, weather officials believe the storm could gain strength as it travels toward Florida.
Puerto Rico will see the worst conditions Wednesday, where the western and southern parts of the islands are expected to experience high winds and heavy precipitation. On Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said the island should expect a maximum of six inches of rain.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday approved an emergency declaration sought by Puerto Rico, and ordered federal assistance to help in response efforts, the island’s governor, Wanda Vázquez tweeted.
Puerto Rican officials said in a press conference Monday they declared a state of emergency in part to free up resources, like the Puerto Rico National Guard, and to coordinate with FEMA.
The hurricane center said Tuesday night that Tropical Storm Dorian had shown little change in strength but was expected to get stronger before reaching Puerto Rico on Wednesday.
The storm is expected to be near hurricane strength when it approaches the island. Hurricane Maria in 2017 was stronger — that storm was a category 5 as it approached and made landfall as a strong category 4, the hurricane center said.
Many on the island are still reeling from Maria. Nearly 3,000 people are estimated to have died in that storm or its aftermath, making it among the deadliest natural disasters in U.S. history. Officials on the island said that residents still living with blue tarps from FEMA and without proper shelter will be prioritized as they prepare for the storm.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump tweeted about Dorian, writing, “Wow! Yet another big storm heading to Puerto Rico. Will it ever end?”
The president also said Congress approved $92 billion dollars for Puerto Rico last year, calling it an “all time record of its kind for ‘anywhere'”—but that number can be deceiving. As of May, a Center for a New Economy report said Puerto Rico has only received $12.6 billion in aid, and the administration has allocated $42.3 billion to the territory. The $92 billion Trump cited is an estimate of the amount that could be allocated to Puerto Rico over the next two decades.
Dorian also comes amid Puerto Rico’s political crisis: former Gov. Ricardo Rosselló resigned earlier this month after hundreds of thousands of residents protested the island’s corruption and the hundreds of leaked offensive chats between the governor and his top advisers, some of which trivialized Maria’s death toll.
Nicole Acevedo contributed.