International News

SAN JUAN, Sept 23, (APP/AFP): Some 70,000 people were
ordered to evacuate their homes Friday after a rain-swollen dam in Puerto Rico failed in the latest disaster caused by Hurricane Maria.
With the death toll from the storm at 33 across the Caribbean, the National Weather Service office in San Juan issued a flash flood warning for people living along the Guajataca River in the northwest of the island and said the 1920s dam was about to collapsing altogether.
“All Areas surrounding the Guajataca River should evacuate NOW. Their lives are in DANGER!,” the service said in a tweet. Flooding has already begun downstream, it said.
Shortly thereafter, Governor Ricardo Rossello issued an order for some 70,000 people living in the area to get out.
Puerto Rico was already battling dangerous floods after Hurricane Maria ravaged the island early Wednesday. Rescuers raced against time to reach trapped residents.
Rossello has called Maria the most devastating storm in a century after it destroyed the US territory’s electricity and telecommunications infrastructure.
Rossello told CNN the island is lacking communications and the preliminary assessment at this point is 13 fatalities.
“Right now our efforts are to make sure we have everybody safe, that we can rescue people. Our efforts have already produced almost 700 rescues so we’re clearly focused on that.”
The National Hurricane Center said some areas in Puerto Rico could see 40 inches (more than a meter) of rain from Maria, and Rossello warned of dangerous mudslides brought on by the deluge.
“We have a lot of flooding, we have reports of complete devastation of vulnerable housing. Of course it’s still raining over here.”