Complete electricity restoration in Puerto Rico to take days: WH

Washington, Sep 21 Full electricity restoration in Puerto Rico "will take at least several days" after hurricane Fiona knocked out power across the US territory, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said

Jean-Pierre said that the federal government is closely monitoring the impact the hurricane is having in Puerto Rico and that damage assessments are currently underway, reports Xinhua news agency.

Hundreds of federal responders are on the ground in Puerto Rico, including the US Army Corps of Engineers, power restoration experts, and search and rescue teams, she told reporters.

More than 1.1 million customers in Puerto Rico were without power as of Tuesday evening, according to data on poweroutage.us.

At least two people died in the wake of the hurricane, which made landfall on Sunday and brought heavy rain and catastrophic flooding to the island.

According to the US National Hurricane Centre, Fiona, the sixth named storm of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, moved into the Atlantic and is likely to strengthen.

Fiona made downfall in Puerto Rico five years after hurricane Maria, the worst in the island's history.

Three weeks after Maria hit the island, only about 10 per cent of Puerto Ricans had electricity, with the national grid still in a fragile state.