More than half of all homes and businesses in Puerto Rico are without power following the arrival of Storm Ernesto.

The Caribbean island’s main electricity provider, LUMA Energy, said at 03:05 EDT (07:05 GMT) that around 998,000 customers were without access to electricity, BBC’s US partner CBS News reported.

Ernesto, which strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane on Wednesday, continues to strengthen with gusts of up to 140 km/h and is moving northward toward Bermuda, where it is expected to make landfall on Friday.

Meteorologists believe it could develop into a major hurricane within the next 48 hours.

The storm passed Puerto Rico overnight, and some areas are expected to bring rainfall of up to 25 centimeters, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Juan Saca, president and CEO of LUMA, said more than 1,500 workers were on site to “restore service” and restore power.

“We need to assess what needs to be done to solve the problem,” he told Reuters.

Puerto Rico’s power grid has been crippled by hurricanes before. When Hurricane Fiona hit the island in 2022, about 80% of homes and businesses were without power for nearly a month.

Ernesto is the fifth named Atlantic storm this season.

Hurricane Beryl was the earliest Category 5 storm in the Atlantic, which swept through the Caribbean and the Texas Gulf Coast last month, killing dozens of people and leaving millions without power.