Hurricane Fiona now a Category 3 and expected to strengthen; two tropical depressions could form

Hurricane Fiona had strengthened into a major Category 3 hurricane Tuesday as it closed in on Turks and Caicos. By late Wednesday, Fiona is expected to be at Category 4 strength with devastating maximum sustained winds of 140 mph, forecasters said.

Fiona, the first major hurricane in the Atlantic this season and only the third Atlantic hurricane overall in 2022, was about 10 miles southeast of the island as of 8 a.m., moving west-northwest at 10 mph.

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Fiona has caused at least four deaths, according to the Associated Press: three in the Dominican Republic and one in Guadeloupe.

In addition to Fiona, National Hurricane Center forecasters also are tracking a disturbance that is expected to approach the Caribbean. It has been given a 50% chance of developing into a tropical depression in the next five days.

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Another tropical depression has a 80% chance of forming in the open waters of the central Atlantic, though it poses no threat to land. It is likely to be torn apart by storm-shredding upper-level winds later this week.

If named storms were to form, they would be Gaston and Hermine.

Storm surge near Turks and Caicos could raise water levels by as much as 3 to 5 feet above normal tide levels into Tuesday, experts said. The southeastern Bahamas should see tropical storm conditions by early Tuesday. Fiona is expected to pivot north-northwest on Tuesday and north on Wednesday, well out into the open Atlantic Ocean.

The strengthening hurricane could next be a threat to Bermuda late in the week.

The beaches along the U.S. East Coast could see high surf, minor beach erosion, and minor coastal flooding as Fiona passes thru and heads north to Canada, according to AccuWeather.

(National Hurricane Center)

Flooding is still a major threat in the Dominican Republic, where rain totals could reach at least 20 inches on the eastern part of the island. Puerto Rico could see a maximum of 35 inches, according to experts. The National Hurricane Center warned that the eastern Dominican Republic could experience life-threatening flash and urban flooding through early Tuesday.

The intensifying storm kept dropping copious rain over the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, where a 58-year-old man died after police said he was swept away by a river in the central mountain town of Comerio.

Another death was linked to a power blackout — a 70-year-old man was burned to death after he tried to fill his generator with gasoline while it was running, officials said.

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Authorities reported another man died when hit by a falling tree.

One man died in the French territory of Guadeloupe when floods from then-Tropical Storm Fiona washed his home away.

The storm is expected to strengthen during the next few days, according to the National Hurricane Center. Its hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 30 miles from its center and tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 150 miles.

[ RELATED: Stay updated with the latest forecast for tropical weather at SunSentinel.com ]

Fiona caused an island-wide blackout in Puerto Rico on Sunday, striking on the anniversary of Hurricane Hugo, which hit Puerto Rico 33 years ago as a Category 3 storm, and just two days before the anniversary of Hurricane Maria, a devastating Category 4 storm that struck on Sept. 20, 2017.

“The damages that we are seeing are catastrophic,” said Gov. Pedro Pierluisi on Monday.

The storm also caused numerous landslides and tore the roofs off homes, including that of Nelson Cirino in the northern coastal town of Loiza.

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“I was sleeping and saw when the corrugated metal flew off,” he said as he watched rain drench his belongings and wind whip his colorful curtains into the air.

In the Dominican Republic, nearly 800 people were evacuated to safer locations, and more than 500 were in shelters, officials said. The storm also triggered mudslides that damaged highways.

The eastern provinces, home to many of the country’s beach resorts, took the brunt of the storm — a potential blow to a tourism industry that is crucial to the country’s economy, but still recovering from a slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2020 hurricane season set a record with 30 named systems, while 2021′s season was the third-most active with 21 named systems. An average year calls for 14 named storms.

Hurricane season ends Nov. 30.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.