Hurricane Fiona strengthens as season’s first major hurricane

SALINAS, Puerto Rico (NBC) - Fiona has strengthened to the season's first major hurricane, triggering deaths, catastrophic flooding, and massive power outages in Puerto Rico.

Still, the toll on Puerto Rico and the Caribbean has been devastating. At least three people are dead in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. This all comes after Hurricane Fiona strengthened overnight to a major Category 3 hurricane and it's now heading towards Turks and Caicos.

Meanwhile, in Puerto Rico, the Governor says that within 2,000 people were in emergency shelters, more than 1,000 people had to be rescued from neighborhoods like this one.

On Monday, NBC spoke with residents here who told us how they had to race out of their homes, picked up by municipal officials when the floodwaters raced in.

This is the most rain Puerto Rico has seen in this neighborhood, the most they've ever seen, even more than Hurricane Maria, which by the way, hit Puerto Rico five years ago.

The Governor says that he hopes that power will be restored in the coming days, not months like it was during Hurricane Maria. But still, there are many questions in Puerto Rico: About how long the power will be out and how long before water is restored.

About two-thirds of the island are still without running water.