Tropical Storm Fiona approaches Puerto Rico

The storm was expected to become a hurricane as it neared Puerto Rico on Saturday, threatening to dump up to 51 centimeters of rain, as people braced for potential landslides, severe flooding and power outages.

The storm previously battered various eastern Caribbean islands, with one death reported in the French territory of Guadeloupe. Fiona was located 145 kilometers south-southeast of St. Croix Saturday afternoon with maximum sustained winds of 95 kph.

It was moving west at 13 kph on a path forecast to pass near or over Puerto Rico on Sunday night. Fiona is expected to swipe past the Dominican Republic on Sunday as a potential hurricane and Haiti and the Turks and Caicos Islands on Monday and Tuesday with the threat of extreme rain.

Fiona, which is the Atlantic hurricane season's sixth named storm, was predicted to bring 13 to 25 centimeters of rain in eastern and southern Puerto Rico, with as much as 51 centimeters in isolated spots.