News
Tropical storm Chantal passes Dominican Republic, skirts Haiti
A tropical storm warning was in effect Wednesday for Haiti, Turks and Caicos and the southeastern Bahamas. A tropical storm watch was in effect for Jamaica and the central Bahamas.
Even a weaker Chantal could create problems for the rural southern peninsula of Haiti and southwestern Dominican Republic.
Storms often trigger flooding and landslides on Hispaniola, and severe deforestation and makeshift housing make Haiti especially vulnerable.
Port-au-Prince is a hilly city on the ocean that’s surrounded by vast temporary structures that collapse in mudslides, sometimes killing people. Also, about 279,000 Haitians still live in ramshackle settlements established after a devastating 2010 earthquake.
Last year, a hurricane and a tropical storm separately caused widespread flooding after merely brushing Haiti.
Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, general director for Haiti’s Civil Protection Department, said the government had prepared 400 emergency shelters nationwide. She urged people to tie up livestock, monitor the radio for updates and avoid crossing rivers.
American Airlines canceled flights to Haiti and elsewhere in the Caribbean. Chantal raced through the eastern Caribbean early Tuesday, with officials in Dominica reporting that heavy winds ripped the roofs off several homes. No injuries were reported there or anywhere else in the region.
Overnight, the storm passed south of Puerto Rico, leaving about 7,000 people without power and more than 2,500 people without water. Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla ordered public employees in the U.S. territory to return to work on Wednesday. The U.S. Coast Guard said all Puerto Rican ports had reopened except those on the southern and western coasts.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press
