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| Tropical Storm Dorian to Rattle Puerto Rico: Live Updates | Tropical Storm Dorian to Rattle Puerto Rico: Live Updates |
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| Tropical Storm Dorian is expected to hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday, slamming the island municipalities of Vieques and Culebra, and the Virgin Islands, before swiping the northeastern corner of Puerto Rico’s big island east of San Juan, the capital. | |
| The compact storm has been maddeningly difficult to forecast, as tends to be the case with disorganized systems. | |
| The storm, which is expected to reach hurricane strength before reaching land, will be the first real test of Puerto Rico’s revamped electrical grid. Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 left the entire island without power. In some places, it took a year to restore electricity. | |
| The electrical grid remains fragile and prone to power losses, though. The authorities say they have more supplies on hand to make repairs now than they did in 2017. | |
| Unlike Maria, however, Dorian will bring more water than wind, according to Roberto García, director of the National Weather Service office in San Juan. | |
| “The greater impact of this system is the rain,” Mr. García said at a news conference. “This is not a Maria, in terms of wind.” | |
| On Wednesday morning, Lourdes López, 44, filled gasoline containers with her husband, Juan Ortega, 46, at a filling station in the quiet streets of San Juan. | |
| “In case the power goes out, for the generator,” she said. | |
| Two years ago, Hurricane Maria blew the zinc roof off their home. “But this time, we’re set,” Ms. López said. | |
| Some 30,000 people still have blue tarps as roofs, according to Carlos A. Acevedo Caballero, director of Puerto Rico’s Bureau for Emergency and Disaster Management. | |
| Mayor María E. Meléndez of Ponce, on the south side of the island, was at her city’s emergency operations center until almost midnight on Tuesday, worried about what residents might need in the event of a storm surge, flooding or a blackout. | |
| “Many people are calm, because it’s a tropical storm” and not a hurricane yet, Ms. Meléndez said. “Mayors are not. As we say, the electric grid is held together with tape.” | |
| Dorian’s exact path remains difficult to predict, but nearly all forecast models suggest residents of Florida’s Atlantic coast should keep close watch as the storm approaches this weekend. | Dorian’s exact path remains difficult to predict, but nearly all forecast models suggest residents of Florida’s Atlantic coast should keep close watch as the storm approaches this weekend. |
| “From the South Carolina coast all the way down to South Florida, any of those areas could be impacted,” Ken Graham, the director of the National Hurricane Center, said on CNN on Wednesday morning. | “From the South Carolina coast all the way down to South Florida, any of those areas could be impacted,” Ken Graham, the director of the National Hurricane Center, said on CNN on Wednesday morning. |
| Once it passes Puerto Rico, the storm could gain strength to a Category 3 hurricane as it feeds off the warm waters near the Bahamas, and then weaken again to a Category 2 as it approaches the mainland. It is expected to make landfall on Florida’s Atlantic coast at about 8 a.m. on Monday, although Floridians could see flooding and strong winds before then. | |
| Mr. Graham’s advice for people in the storm’s path: “Keep paying attention to the forecast because this storm is still compact. It could still change.” | Mr. Graham’s advice for people in the storm’s path: “Keep paying attention to the forecast because this storm is still compact. It could still change.” |
| “Just be ready,” he added. “Going into the holiday weekend from South Carolina down to Florida, have your plans ready, be ready to go. Please pay attention to updates in the forecast because it could change also over the next couple of days.” | “Just be ready,” he added. “Going into the holiday weekend from South Carolina down to Florida, have your plans ready, be ready to go. Please pay attention to updates in the forecast because it could change also over the next couple of days.” |
| The president, often a critic of the amount of federal money that Puerto Rico receives, on Tuesday approved a request for an emergency declaration, authorizing federal coordination of relief efforts and assistance. | The president, often a critic of the amount of federal money that Puerto Rico receives, on Tuesday approved a request for an emergency declaration, authorizing federal coordination of relief efforts and assistance. |
| But money for the preparations remains an issue. Democrats in Washington criticized the Department of Homeland Security earlier Tuesday for transferring more than $150 million from FEMA’s disaster relief fund to pay for temporary immigration courts at the southwest border. Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the timing of the transfer in the middle of hurricane season could have deadly consequences. | But money for the preparations remains an issue. Democrats in Washington criticized the Department of Homeland Security earlier Tuesday for transferring more than $150 million from FEMA’s disaster relief fund to pay for temporary immigration courts at the southwest border. Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the timing of the transfer in the middle of hurricane season could have deadly consequences. |
| And the Trump administration said this month that it would delay about $9 billion in disaster prevention funds intended for Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, citing concerns over fiscal management. | And the Trump administration said this month that it would delay about $9 billion in disaster prevention funds intended for Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, citing concerns over fiscal management. |
| President Trump repeated on Tuesday, incorrectly, that Congress had approved more than $90 billion for Puerto Rico last year. While $91 billion is the Office of Management and Budget’s estimate of how much the island could receive over the next two decades, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies had distributed $11.2 billion in aid to Puerto Rico as of April l. | President Trump repeated on Tuesday, incorrectly, that Congress had approved more than $90 billion for Puerto Rico last year. While $91 billion is the Office of Management and Budget’s estimate of how much the island could receive over the next two decades, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies had distributed $11.2 billion in aid to Puerto Rico as of April l. |
| Gov. Wanda Vázquez of Puerto Rico said that, regardless of Mr. Trump’s comment on Tuesday, his administration had been “extraordinary” in staying in touch and offering assistance as Dorian approached. | Gov. Wanda Vázquez of Puerto Rico said that, regardless of Mr. Trump’s comment on Tuesday, his administration had been “extraordinary” in staying in touch and offering assistance as Dorian approached. |
| Hurricane season in the Atlantic, including the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, generally runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 each year, though storms occasionally develop out of season. | Hurricane season in the Atlantic, including the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, generally runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 each year, though storms occasionally develop out of season. |
| The period between mid-August through mid-October is the most active time of the season. Surface air temperatures tend to peak near the end of summer, ocean waters remain warm well into the autumn, and there is more moisture in the atmosphere at this time of year, providing the building blocks for a hurricane. | The period between mid-August through mid-October is the most active time of the season. Surface air temperatures tend to peak near the end of summer, ocean waters remain warm well into the autumn, and there is more moisture in the atmosphere at this time of year, providing the building blocks for a hurricane. |
| Atlantic tropical storms can form in many different places, from the Cape Verde Islands to the western reaches of the Gulf of Mexico; the likeliest spots vary depending on the month, according to the National Hurricane Center — and so do the tracks they are likely to follow afterward, though some storms may wander far from the average path. | Atlantic tropical storms can form in many different places, from the Cape Verde Islands to the western reaches of the Gulf of Mexico; the likeliest spots vary depending on the month, according to the National Hurricane Center — and so do the tracks they are likely to follow afterward, though some storms may wander far from the average path. |
| In August and September, the peak part of the season, many storms will follow the east-to-west path that Dorian is currently on. | In August and September, the peak part of the season, many storms will follow the east-to-west path that Dorian is currently on. |
| At other times of year, the storms are often slowed and deflected by increasing wind shear — sharp changes in wind direction at different altitudes — and by colder water temperatures, he said. | At other times of year, the storms are often slowed and deflected by increasing wind shear — sharp changes in wind direction at different altitudes — and by colder water temperatures, he said. |
| Adeel Hassan, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Alejandra Rosa contributed reporting. |