The Catholic Church lends a helping hand to Puerto Ricans devastated by Hurricane Fiona.

Hurricane Fiona strengthened into a Category 3 storm, causing flooding and damage in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, before making landfall in the Caribbean archipelago.

Hurricane Fiona also slammed into the Turks and Caicos Islands on Tuesday as a powerful Category 3 storm.

Hurricane Fiona was a painful reminder of Puerto Rico's vulnerability. Tuesday marked the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria, a Category 5 storm which killed about 3,000 people and destroyed its power grid.

Nearly 80% of Puerto Rico remained without power on Tuesday, according to Poweroutage US Officials said it would take days to reconnect the entire island of 3.3 million people.

US officials say four people have died in the hurricane in Puerto Rico. A fifth person was killed earlier in the week in Guadeloupe.

US Health Secretary Xavier Becerra declared a public health emergency in Puerto Rico on Tuesday night, allocating federal funds and equipment to help the island.

The storm slammed Grand Turk, the Turks and Caicos's biggest island on Tuesday morning, before hitting its main cluster of islands several hours later.

Strengthening with wind speeds of 125 mph (201 km/h), Fiona was heading north towards Bermuda on Tuesday night and was expected to strike as a Category 4 storm on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Canadian officials warned of powerful post-tropical conditions hitting Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Price Edward Island by Saturday.

Canadian officials warned of powerful post-tropical conditions hitting Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Price Edward Island by Saturday.

"The early shutdown of the country helped us save lives," Williams told the media.

To the south, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico were reeling from the storm's intensity and struggling to cope with the aftermath.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) chief Dean Criswell arrived in the US territory of Puerto Rico on Tuesday to assess the damage, agency officials said.

Officials said multiple FEMA teams have been deployed, including two search and rescue units, and hundreds of FEMA personnel are already on the island.

Local Catholic Charities agencies in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands have conducted local assessments, said Kim Burgo, vice president of disaster operations for Catholic Charities USA. Their staff is currently organizing the distribution of food, water and other essentials.

Many families are still recovering from Hurricane Maria, she noted; Things have reached a point where things are getting better but again everything is in a state of loss.

While no two disasters are alike, Burgo said Catholic Charities learned important lessons from the experience of responding to Hurricane Maria. One of those lessons was about the importance of strategically pre-positioning supplies around the island — especially the kinds of items that go quickly from supermarket shelves — so that they can be quickly distributed to those in need when a disaster hits.

Those who would like to donate to the hurricane relief effort can visit the Catholic Charities website. Every dollar will go directly to the recovery effort, Burgo said.

Father Enrique “Kike” Camacho, executive director of Cáritas Puerto Rico, coordinated relief efforts after Hurricane Maria in 2017. Working closely with Catholic Charities, he helped get relief to those who needed it most through a support network operated out of 500 parishes.

Cáritas Puerto Rico's Facebook page on Monday published an appeal for monetary donations with a promise that the organization would once again serve those affected by the disaster.