Tropical Storm Ernesto Menaces Puerto Rico’s Shaky Power Grid

(Bloomberg) -- Tropical Storm Ernesto threatens to trigger floods and landslides across Puerto Rico and will test the island’s electric grid, which has been battered by storms in recent years. 

Ernesto, the fifth Atlantic storm this year, had top winds of 45 miles (72 kilometers) per hour as it crossed the Leeward Islands 35 miles northwest of Guadeloupe, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory at 8 a.m. New York time. While the storm’s winds will continue to intensify as it moves toward Puerto Rico later Tuesday, flooding is the bigger concern.

“The main impacts from this will be the rain,” said Alex DaSilva, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. “It is a pretty large storm and it is going to have a lot of rain associated with it.”

Ernesto’s impacts may be magnified on Puerto Rico because the island’s infrastructure has been pummeled by so many storms, including Hurricane Maria in 2017 and Fiona two years ago. US forecasters are predicting an explosive Atlantic hurricane season, with as many as 24 named storms, as warm ocean waters provide fuel for weather systems.

Puerto Rico’s infrastructure “is still recovering and it could impact them more than if they hadn’t been hit,’ DaSilva said. 

It isn’t clear if Ernesto will make landfall in eastern Puerto Rico overnight or simply come very close to the island, but there will be widespread heavy rain everywhere, DaSilva said. Across some high points, as much as 12 inches or more could fall, he said.

Tides may rise one to three feet above normal along some of Puerto Rico’s coastline, as well as the US and British Virgin Islands, including St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix, the hurricane center said. Tropical storm warnings are posted on many of the islands, including Puerto Rico.

Ernesto is forecast to snake its way through the Caribbean, passing over parts of Puerto Rico late Tuesday into Wednesday and then churning into the Atlantic well east of the Bahamas. At that point it will start to strengthen as it makes a run north toward Bermuda, which it could hit Saturday as Category 2 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale.

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