Campus Alert Archive
UPR

Hurricane Fiona Knocks Out Power Across Puerto Rico, Collapses Bridge to UPR Utuado and Floods Campuses

PRhurricaneemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On September 18, 2022, Hurricane Fiona made landfall in southwestern Puerto Rico at 3:20 PM EDT with sustained winds of 85 mph, dropping 6-30 inches of rain across the island. The storm knocked out power to the entire island and caused catastrophic flooding. A bridge collapse on Highway 123 cut off access to the UPR Utuado campus. Multiple UPR campuses were closed for extended periods.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
University of Puerto Rico
Territory · PR
~40,000 students
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTmulti-channel
Approximate reconstruction232 chars
UPR ALERT: Hurricane Fiona is approaching Puerto Rico. All UPR campuses are closed effective immediately. Do not travel. Follow instructions from local emergency management. Classes and activities are suspended until further notice.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Hurricane Fiona made landfall in southwestern Puerto Rico at 3:20 PM EDT on September 18, 2022
The storm dropped 6-30 inches of rain, with the heaviest in southern and southeastern Puerto Rico
The entire island lost power — a devastating repeat of the Hurricane Maria experience five years earlier
UPDATEmulti-channel
Approximate reconstruction258 chars
UPR UPDATE: The bridge on Highway 123 near the Utuado campus has collapsed, cutting off access. Multiple campuses have sustained damage. Classes remain suspended system-wide. Students and employees should not attempt to travel to campus until further notice.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The Highway 123 bridge collapse cut off one of the main access routes to the UPR Utuado campus
Island-wide power outages lasted weeks, affecting all 11 UPR campuses
UPR had experienced similar devastation from Hurricane Maria in September 2017, just five years earlier
Context

Background

On September 18, 2022, Hurricane Fiona made landfall in southwestern Puerto Rico with 85 mph sustained winds, dropping up to 30 inches of rain in some areas. The storm knocked out power across the entire island — a devastating echo of Hurricane Maria five years earlier. NPR reported that a bridge collapse on Highway 123 cut off access to the UPR Utuado campus, one of 11 campuses in the UPR system. Multiple campuses sustained flood and wind damage. The 40,000-student UPR system suspended all classes and activities system-wide. The National Hurricane Center's tropical cyclone report documented the storm's track across the island. For UPR, which was still recovering from Hurricane Maria's devastation in 2017, Fiona represented a second major hurricane disruption in five years, testing the institution's resilience and recovery capacity.
Analysis

Key Findings

A bridge collapse cut off access to the UPR Utuado campus, illustrating how hurricanes can physically isolate campus communities
Island-wide power outages affected all 11 UPR campuses simultaneously — a system-wide emergency affecting 40,000 students
Fiona struck just five years after Hurricane Maria, testing UPR's institutional resilience after a previous catastrophic hurricane
Outcome
Island-wide power outage lasted weeks. The UPR Utuado campus was cut off by a bridge collapse. Multiple campuses sustained flood and wind damage. Classes were suspended system-wide.
Provenance

Sources

  1. national media
    Hurricane Fiona (Wikipedia)
    en.wikipedia.org
  2. national media
    Hurricane Fiona leaves dead, heads toward Puerto Rico (ABC News)
    abcnews.go.com
  3. national media
    5 numbers that show Hurricane Fiona's devastating impact (NPR)
    npr.org
  4. Official
    Hurricane Fiona Tropical Cyclone Report (NHC)
    nhc.noaa.gov
Tags
hurricanefionapuerto-ricoterritoryisland-wide-outagebridge-collapsemulti-campus40000-studentspost-maria
Added April 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion