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| Puerto Rico residents evacuate after dam fails in Hurricane Maria's wake | Puerto Rico residents evacuate after dam fails in Hurricane Maria's wake |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Two towns in western Puerto Rico have been evacuated in the wake of Hurricane Maria, after a dam failed causing “extremely dangerous” flooding, the US National Weather Service said on Friday. | |
| The municipalities of Isabela and Quebradillas, home to some 70,000 people, were being evacuated with buses because of a crack in the Guajataca dam. | |
| The 345-yard (316-meter) dam holds back a manmade lake covering about two sq miles (five sq km) and was built decades ago. | |
| “This is an EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION. Buses are currently evacuating people from the area as quickly as they can,” the NWS tweeted. | “This is an EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION. Buses are currently evacuating people from the area as quickly as they can,” the NWS tweeted. |
| 215PM FLASH FLOOD EMERGENCY for A Dam Failure in Isabela Municipality y Quebradillas Municipality in Puerto Rico... #prwx pic.twitter.com/L3utOjxspR | 215PM FLASH FLOOD EMERGENCY for A Dam Failure in Isabela Municipality y Quebradillas Municipality in Puerto Rico... #prwx pic.twitter.com/L3utOjxspR |
| In a later message, the NWS tweeted: “All Areas surrounding the Guajataca River should evacuate NOW. Their lives are in DANGER! Please SHARE!” | In a later message, the NWS tweeted: “All Areas surrounding the Guajataca River should evacuate NOW. Their lives are in DANGER! Please SHARE!” |
| Todas las areas alrededor del Rio Guajataca deben desalojar AHORA. Sus vidas corren PELIGRO. Favor de COMPARTIR. #prwx | Todas las areas alrededor del Rio Guajataca deben desalojar AHORA. Sus vidas corren PELIGRO. Favor de COMPARTIR. #prwx |
| Communications to outlying areas of the island have been severely hampered by the storm. | |
| “It’s a structural failure. I don’t have any more details,” Governor Ricardo Rossello said from the capital, San Juan. “We’re trying to evacuate as many people as possible.” | |
| Maria was the second major hurricane to hit the Caribbean this month and the strongest storm to hit the US territory in nearly 90 years. It completely knocked out the island’s power, and several rivers hit record flood levels. | Maria was the second major hurricane to hit the Caribbean this month and the strongest storm to hit the US territory in nearly 90 years. It completely knocked out the island’s power, and several rivers hit record flood levels. |
| Officials on the island said on Friday that six people had been confirmed killed by the storm: three died in landslides in Utuadno, in the island’s mountainous center; two drowned in flooding in Toa Baja, west of San Juan; and one died in Bayamón, also near San Juan, after being struck by a panel. | |
| Earlier news media reports had the death toll on the island as high as 15. | Earlier news media reports had the death toll on the island as high as 15. |
| “At the moment, these are fatalities we know of. We know of other potential fatalities through unofficial channels that we haven’t been able to confirm,” said Héctor Pesquera, the government’s secretary of public safety. | |