Puerto Rico Cancels Classes, Activates National Guard as Tropical Storm Ernesto Approaches
Puerto Rico activated the National Guard and canceled the start of classes in public schools as forecasters warned that the U.S. territory would be hit by Tropical Storm Ernesto, which formed in the Atlantic Ocean on Monday.
Transcript
00:00We are watching a system that is not yet a tropical cyclone.
00:06It is not even a depression yet, but in the next few hours it could become a tropical storm.
00:12And it will be moving quite fast, about 26 miles per hour, towards our region.
00:18What worries us the most about this system, first of all, is the large amount of rain that may be falling.
00:24These two to three days that you can see us affected by the rain, we are talking between 6 and 8 inches.
00:30Given the fact that winds of 50 miles per hour are going to cause a high level of interruptions in certain areas.
00:38We have initially identified 200, 250 soldiers who will be participating between today and tomorrow
00:44in team prepositioning in different areas, in coordination with the DITOB and the highway,
00:49identifying access activities and also mitigating the suffering or danger that may be due in different residential areas.