Puerto Rico Dam Failing in Maria’s Aftermath, Forcing Mass Evacuations

The National Weather Service says the Guajataca Dam is failing in western Puerto Rico and buses are evacuating up to 70,000 people “as quickly as they can.” Puerto Rican officials said they could not reach more than half the towns on the Island due to debris, downed power lines, and cell towers. The government is calling the situation “extremely dangerous.” The weather service office in San Juan says

dam operators reported at Friday afternoon that the dam at the northern end of Lake Guajataca in the northwest corner of Puerto Rico was failing and causing flash flooding downstream. Hurricane Maria is now moving away from the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands as a powerful Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph. READ MORE