Ernesto becomes hurricane, leaves half of Puerto Rico out of power

Ernesto intensified into a Category 1 hurricane Wednesday as it churned north of Puerto Rico, where it unleashed torrential rain and damaging winds that triggered flash flood warnings and cut power to half the island.
As of 2 p.m. ET, Ernesto was located 225 miles northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico, with sustained winds of 75 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The storm pummeled Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands through the morning, quickly dumping several inches of rain across the territory, leading forecasters with the National Weather Service in San Juan to warn of “life threatening flash flooding.” All told, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands could see widespread rainfall of up to 6 inches, while the total for southeastern Puerto Rico could climb to as much as 8 to 10 inches.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Puerto Rico, ordering the federal government to assist in local response efforts. Ahead of the storm, officials in Puerto Rico closed government offices, shuttered schools, activated the National Guard and opened hundreds of shelters.
Forecasters expect Ernesto to move northward away from Puerto Rico through Wednesday as it drifts for a few days along the western Atlantic in the direction of Bermuda − it was still 800 miles away Wednesday afternoon − before eventually developing into a major hurricane and remaining far east of the continental U.S.
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More than 730,000 utility customers in Puerto Rico − almost exactly half the total in the U.S. territory − were out of power after Ernesto brought tropical storm-level winds and heavy rain to the island of more than 3 million American citizens.
Caguas, a major city in east-central Puerto Rico, had the most outages with 167,000 as of Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. ET, according to the website of Luma Energy, the operator of Puerto Rico’s power grid. Luma, which services 1.47 million customers, said 49.5% of them didn’t have electricity at that time.
The second-highest outage total, more than 156,000 homes and businesses, was recorded in Mayaguez, a large city on Puerto Rico’s western coast, Luma said. The capital of San Juan had 43,000 outages, or 17% of clients without service, by far the lowest of the seven regions reported by Luma. Four were around 70%.
Luma said Tuesday it had coordinated with emergency contractors throughout Puerto Rico to respond to outages. Blackouts have been commonplace in the island ever since Hurricane Maria destroyed Puerto Rico’s power grid in 2017.
Two of the three U.S. Virgin Islands – St. John and St. Croix – were completely in the dark Wednesday as officials worked to restore service in the wake of Ernesto.
Daryl Jaschen, the director of the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency, said in a news conference Wednesday that, in addition to the outages, six cell phone towers were knocked offline across the territory.
U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. in the same news briefing said “the territory is in good shape” but urged residents and tourists not to venture outside as some rain bands continued lashing the islands.
“There’s a lot of branches on the road, there’s a lot of water coming off of hills on all three islands – and there’s sporadic flooding,” he said.
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As Ernesto pummeled Puerto Rico early Wednesday morning, officials issued flash flood warnings and the National Hurricane Center reported damaging wind gusts.
By 7 a.m., between 2 and 6 inches of rain had fallen in parts of eastern Puerto Rico, and an additional 2 to 3 inches was projected. “Flash flooding is ongoing or expected to begin shortly,” the weather service in San Juan said.
As rain totals climb, the Rio Grande de Loiza and its tributaries “continue to rise, and the flooding risk continues to increase,” the weather service said, adding that the rivers would likely overflow.
Meanwhile, St. John and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands received between 3 and 5 inches of rain through Wednesday morning, leading the weather service to warn of the potential for “life threatening flash flooding of creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses.”
According to the National Weather Service office in San Juan, an 86 mph wind gust was recorded in Culebra, a small island off the eastern coast that’s part of Puerto Rico. A National Weather Service crew in Ceiba, in northeastern Puerto Rico, recorded a gust of 74 mph. Winds as high as 75 mph were recorded across the Virgin Islands, the weather service said.
On Bermuda, Jessica Burns said she woke up Wednesday morning to torrential rain and is preparing for much worse this weekend, when Hurricane Ernesto could arrive as a Category 2 storm, according to the Bermuda Weather Service.
Burns, 29, said she was born and raised on the island, but this is her first summer at the helm of the family’s vacation rental business after her mother passed away in November 2023.
Burns, neighbors and staff trimmed loose branches and removed coconuts from trees “to make sure there’s no danger of those coming loose and causing damage,” she said.
Burns said she also loaded up on food, batteries and water. “We’re all going to the grocery store, stocking up like we were during COVID,” she said.
Some vacationers checked out early this week from Burns’ Southern Views Property Rentals, wanting to get out of Ernesto’s way. Other guests are “hunkering down” with staff and were provided an extra night for free to stay safe and dry, she said.
− Claire Thornton
While Ernesto isn’t expected to hit the mainland U.S., authorities have warned of potentially dangerous beach conditions — such as rip currents and rough surf — along the nation’s Atlantic coast as the storm churns toward Bermuda.
The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday cautioned recreational boaters, fishermen, beachgoers, and water sports enthusiasts in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico to stay out of the water “due to deteriorating sea state conditions and dangerous rip currents associated with Tropical Storm Ernesto.”
Forecasters said strong swells will begin to reach North Carolina beaches by Friday and advised beachgoers to be aware of the risks and dangers.
“The storm may be hundreds of miles out to sea and the weather could look great at beaches along Florida, the Carolinas, even up to New England, but everyone needs to be aware of the risks and dangers at the beach,” according to AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva. “We expect the rip current risk along the Atlantic coast of the U.S. to start later this week along the Southeast and ramp up over the weekend, expanding to the north.”
In a revised forecast issued earlier this month, the federal government called for an “extremely active” Atlantic hurricane season, one that could rank among the busiest on record. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted 17 to 24 named storms with about 8 to 13 becoming hurricane-strength, over the average 14 named storms and seven hurricanes.
In a statement, NOAA head Rick Spinrad said the season started “early and violent” with Hurricane Beryl being the earliest Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic on record. He added the agency’s update signifies that the peak of the hurricane season is near, which typically includes the most impactful storms and hurricanes.
Overall, NOAA says there’s a 90% chance of an above-average season, which is among the highest chances ever issued by the agency, lead seasonal hurricane forecaster Matthew Rosencrans told USA TODAY.
Ernesto emerged in the Atlantic as residents and authorities across the eastern U.S. were recovering from former tropical storm Debby.
Debby made landfall last week along Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 1 hurricane before the storm’s remnants caused major flooding across much of the Eastern Seaboard, inundating entire neighborhoods as authorities conducted water rescues and evacuations. At least eight deaths have been tied to the storm.
In July, Hurricane Beryl pummeled the Caribbean as a major hurricane before slamming Texas, inflicting massive power blackouts that led to several fatal cases of heatstroke. Beryl has been linked to more than 20 deaths across the U.S. and the Caribbean.
Contributing: Doyle Rice and Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY; C. A. Bridges, Palm Beach Post