The storm "Fiona" strengthened on Sunday afternoon and became a hurricane, according to forecasters in the US, who warned that it is expected to strongly hit parts of the US territory of Puerto Rico.
According to the pessimistic forecast, the heavy rains will lead to a "historic" amount of precipitation that will also cause mudslides and severe flooding, along with strong winds that will uproot houses and trees.
In some places in the path of the storm, flooding of about 50 cm is expected.
"The time has come to act, we need to be concerned," said the territory's emergency manager, Nino Correa, in no uncertain terms, urging residents not to become complacent.
According to the map obtained from the models on Sunday evening, Fiona was about 80 km south of the port city of Ponce on the territory's southern coast and was moving at 13 km/h in a west-northwest direction but with winds already reaching 130 km/h.
If that's not enough, it comes exactly two days before the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Maria hitting the American island, and about three years after the severe earthquake that hit the island.
Remember, in 2017, the storm - which was a level 4 - led to about 3,000 deaths and actually destroyed the electricity grid in the territory and then the earthquake destroyed many more parts.
To this day, a significant part of the infrastructure has not yet been rebuilt, and thousands of houses are still in a temporary condition and practically without a roof or just a plastic sheet instead of a roof.
A resident of Puerto Rico anxiously looks ahead to the arrival of "Fiona", photo: AP/Alejandro Granadillo
The current path is expected to hit cities along the southern coast of the island, where the population is still recovering from the devastation of the storm and the earthquake.
Already on Sunday, there were reports of road blockages due to mudslides and tree collapses.
In addition, there is a fear that there will be another collapse of the electricity network, and at least 32 thousand residents have already been cut off according to a preliminary estimate.
Also, at least 100 people were forced to flee their homes and find shelter.
A resident stands near his home, which has not yet recovered from Hurricane Maria, photo: (AP/Alejandro Granadillo
"All the Puerto Ricans who experienced the hurricane in 2017 are experiencing post-trauma and are asking themselves what will happen now, how long will it last and what are the consequences," said Danny Hernandez, who works in the capital San Juan to the AP agency.
He added that the atmosphere is one of the needy and the people are hoarding supplies so that there will not be a shortage like the situation after the storm five years ago.
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