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Tropical storm Chantal passes Dominican Republic, skirts Haiti
Progression of Tropical Storm Chantal. IMAGE/Reuters
Tropical Storm Chantal skirted the southern coasts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti on Wednesday, losing force but still posing a flood threat to some of the region’s most vulnerable people.
The storm was no longer expected to make landfall on the island of Hispaniola shared by the two nations and Dominican officials suspended a tropical storm warning for that country. But forecasters said Chantal could still bring heavy rain to flood-prone areas where people live in flimsy homes of plywood and corrugated steel.
In both countries, people fortified houses with tarps and wood and gathered supplies, largely ignoring warnings to leave their neighborhoods.
“We’re going to wait until it’s over. We’re already used to this,” said 36-year-old Sergio Guzman, who along the banks of a river near Santo Domingo.
Dominican state meteorologist Bolivar Ledesma said as much as 20 centimeters (8 inches) of rain could soak that country’s southern coast.
As showers began falling along Haiti’s southern coast Wednesday afternoon, officials took to the radio airwaves to urge people to move away from ravines, secure important records and stock up on food and water.
Chantal was about 235 kilometers (145 miles) south of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince Wednesday afternoon, moving west at 46 kph (29 mph), with maximum sustained winds of 75 kph (45 mph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. It was on track to head north across Cuba and toward the Bahamas and Florida, but forecasters said the storm would likely weaken to a tropical depression by Thursday.
