Tropical Storm Chantal Threatens Floods in Dominican Republic’s Tourist Towns

Tropical Storm Chantal roared south of Puerto Rico early Wednesday on a path that will see it pass over the Dominican Republic and Haiti, where authorities warned of possible landslides and heavy flooding.

Chantal was becoming disorganized and a hurricane watch was discontinued for the Dominican Republic’s southern coast, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. However, a tropical storm warning was in effect for the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos, and the southeastern Bahamas.

Officials in the Dominican Republic, where Chantal was expected to make landfall Wednesday afternoon, urged those living in low-lying areas to evacuate, but few paid heed.

Both Haiti and the Dominican Republic are vulnerable to flooding and landslides from storms, but widespread deforestation and ramshackle housing in Haiti mean even moderate rains pose a significant threat.

Haiti is already in the middle of its rainy season, with 279,000 people still living in grim settlements that popped up in the capital and elsewhere after the devastating 2010 earthquake.

Up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain could fall in parts of the island of Hispaniola, which the Dominican Republic and Haiti share, the hurricane center said.

Meteorologists with AccuWeather warned that the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico could be hard hit, given that some 13 inches (33 centimeters) of rain already have fallen in the capital of San Juan since June, nearly twice the normal rainfall for that period.

At least 17 roads will be closed as a preventive measure in the southern mountainous town of Yauco, where some 30 percent of the population lives under zinc roofs, Mayor Abel Nazario told the AP.

Meanwhile, in the popular southwest tourist town of Cabo Rojo, crews cleared branches and debris to prepare for heavy rainfall, said Milton Llitera, the town’s emergency management director.

A tropical storm watch was in effect for the U.S. Virgin Islands, Vieques and Culebra and central Bahamas.

Chantal had raced through the eastern Caribbean early Tuesday, with officials in Dominica reporting that heavy winds ripped off the roofs of several homes. No injuries were reported there or anywhere else in the region.

Source: AP