Dominican Republic starts shuttering schools and offices ahead of Tropical Storm Franklin
The Dominican Republic prepared to close much of its territory Tuesday as Tropical Storm Franklin threatened landslides and torrential floods on its shared island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
The storm was anticipated to hit the island Wednesday and drop 10 to 15 inches of rain to both countries. Haiti is concerned about heavy rainfall because erosion can cause catastrophic flooding. Also predicted was a three-foot storm surge.
Dominican officials said schools, government offices, and businesses would close at noon Tuesday and reopen Thursday. Although schools were closed for holiday until mid-September in Haiti, where a thunderstorm in June killed over 40 people, government officials have not announced any closures.
The storm hit late Tuesday morning 220 miles (355 kilometers) south-southwest of Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic’s capital. Maximum sustained winds were 50 mph (85 kph) and it was traveling northwest at 7 mph.
Franklin was expected to move north sharply on Tuesday. The National Hurricane Center in Miami expects it to stay on Hispaniola until late Wednesday before leaving to open water.
The Public Works Ministry sent 3,000 personnel to 14 provinces to prepare for Franklin, putting nearly half of the Dominican Republic’s 31 provinces on red alert. Due to low water levels, the administration stated the significant rainfall anticipated would not affect the country’s dams.
In Haiti, 46-year-old Jerome Jean-Pierre, who sells cold sodas from a wheelbarrow, heard about the hurricane on the radio and planned to stay indoors. He hoped Franklin will not hit Haiti like Hurricane Matthew in October 2016.
He said, “That was really horrible.” “I saw many people washed away.”
Mackenson Barbouze, a 34-year-old lecturer, said the storm’s timing is awful because Haiti is already experiencing gang violence and 200,000 people have fled their homes.
“It will create chaos on top of what we’re dealing with,” he added, adding that Haiti experiences severe storm devastation due to the government’s slow response. “Most agencies are broken. They have words but no power.”
The whole Dominican Republic and Haiti’s southern coast was under a tropical storm warning. Turks & Caicos Islands tropical storm watch.
