I know I know, before you head for the comments; Hurricane Irene was actually Tropical Storm Irene when it made landfall in Puerto Rico. But Irene was still packing 70mph winds (just 5mph short of Category 1 Hurricane) and it did in fact become a Category 1 Hurricane as it was leaving Puerto Rico
Tropical Storm Irene’s path seemed to shift considerably during Sunday with it eventually making landfall along the south east coast near Punta Santiago in the early hours of Monday morning. The wind brought down power lines leading to power outages across a large section of the island (estimates of around 1 million people without power initially). Houses were left without running water and the plantain and banana crops of the south east were badly hit (loses currently estimated at around $17M)
Even though Hurricane Irene was now off the coast of Puerto Rico, she was not down with the island. All day Monday it rained and it continued to rain on Tuesday, in fact Tuesday was just a crazy day. There were huge thunderstorms packing winds of 40-60mph, tornado watches and warnings, flash flood warnings and it just kept on raining. Some estimates put the rainfall at over 20 inches since Hurricane Irene swept across the island.
Thankfully for myself we only lost power for around 16 hours (fortunately, we had moved to my wife’s parents for the night as they have a generator). At daybreak we found a few trees down in the area and roads covered in tree branches, but nothing major. Others around the island were not so lucky; with roads closed, landslides, sink holes, rivers flooding not to mention no electricity and water. The areas on the east coast and central regions appear to have been badly hit by the storm.
Check out the following videos from El Nuevo Dias to get a sense of the damage and disruption that Hurricane Irene has had on Puerto Rico, and spare a thought or two for the people of the Bahamas and the East Coast USA who will also feel the wrath of Irene.
And in pictures, check out these photo galleries from El Nuevo Dias
Gallery 1
Gallery 2
Gallery 3
The rains have now subsided (Thursday) and normality is returning, but for some the storms legacy will linger for a long time as families and communities work together to get back to normal.
