Fiona, now a Cat 4, is forecast to approach Bermuda late Thursday. So far, at least four people were killed during Fiona’s destructive journey through the Caribbean.
What type of damage did Fiona cause in Puerto Rico, where many were still recovering from Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm that struck the island in 2017?
Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi called the damage from Fiona “catastrophic.”
Here’s a look at the destruction:
Antonio Perez Miranda walks out of his house on Wednesday, Sept. 20, through the mud left by the river Rio de la Plata overflowing in the San Jose de Toa Baja caused by Hurricane Fiona that passed by Puerto Rico on Monday, Sept. 18, 2022. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
A 3-floor building in Ponce that was already in bad conditions in the southern city (which was badly hit by Fiona and a string of quakes in 2020) collapsed, per island’s police. pic.twitter.com/b2sKTaEjVQ
Juan Antonio Molina drives his old jeep through a road flooded in Toa Alta by Hurricane Fiona that hit Puerto Rico. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
Samuel Santiago removes mud from the front of his house in the San Jose de Toa Baja neighborhood on Monday, Sept. 18, after Hurricane Fiona caused the river Rio de la Plata to overflow. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
A wrecked car sits in the San Jose de Toa Baja neighborhood on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2022 after it was flooded when the river Rio de la Plata overflowed as Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
Sewing machines at Antonio Perez Miranda’s home were damaged when it was flooded with mud from the river Rio de la Plata in the San Jose de Toa Baja neighborhood. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
Samuel Santiago removes mud from the front of his house in the San Jose de Toa Baja neighborhood on Tuesday, September 20, 2022. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
Michelle Marchante covers the pulse of healthcare in South Florida and also the City of Coral Gables. Before that, she covered the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricanes, crime, education, entertainment and other topics in South Florida for the Herald as a breaking news reporter. She recently won first place in the health reporting category in the 2025 Sunshine State Awards for her coverage of Steward Health’s bankruptcy. An investigative series about the abrupt closure of a Miami heart transplant program led Michelle and her colleagues to be recognized as finalists in two 2024 Florida Sunshine State Award categories. She also won second place in the 73rd annual Green Eyeshade Awards for her consumer-focused healthcare stories and was part of the team of reporters who won a 2022 Pulitzer Prize for the Miami Herald’s breaking news coverage of the Surfside building collapse. Michelle graduated with honors from Florida International University and was a 2025 National Press Foundation Covering Workplace Mental Health fellow and a 2020-2021 Poynter-Koch Media & Journalism fellow. Support my work with a digital subscription
