Tropical Storm Erika Dissipates Leaving 20 People Dead and 31 Missing in Caribbean as Florida is Told to Brace for Heavy Rain
- Tropical Storm Erika dissipated early on Saturday as its remnant drenched parts of eastern Cuba
- In Haiti, one person died in a mudslide just north of Port-au-Prince
- U.S. National Hurricane Center said storm had degenerated into a trough of low pressure by early Saturday
- Eastern Cuban city of Santiago was hit by about two hours of heavy rain on Saturday morning as the storm was falling apart
- John Cagialosi, a hurricane specialist at the center, warned that people in Florida should brace for heavy rain
Daily Mail UK, 29 August 2015
Tropical Storm Erika dissipated early on Saturday, even as its remnants began drenching parts of eastern Cuba.
However, it left devastation in its path - killing at least 20 people and leaving another 31 missing on the small eastern Caribbean island of Dominica, authorities said.
In Haiti, one person died in a mudslide just north of Port-au-Prince and at least four others were killed in a traffic accident that apparently occurred in the rain.
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A man on a loader cleans garbage dumped by the overflow of a canal caused by heavy rains from Tropical Storm Erika in Port-au-Prince on Saturday. Erika left at least 20 people dead when it swept over the tiny island nation of Dominica, officials reported, as the system dissipated early on Saturday
Waves crash along the shores of the Malecon in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on Friday. The eastern Cuban city of Santiago was hit by about two hours of heavy rain on Saturday morning as the storm was falling apart
Cars drive in the rain and past fallen pieces of palm trees in Santo Domingo on Friday. On Saturday, residents reported no flooding or other damage, saying they wished it would rain more to help alleviate a months-long drought that has hit eastern Cuba particularly hard
Members of the Emergency Operations Committee (COE) monitor the trajectory of Tropical Storm Erika via satellite in Santo Domingo on Friday. Due to some likely weakening over mountainous areas, Erika was no longer forecast to make U.S. landfall as a hurricane
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm had degenerated into a trough of low pressure by early Saturday after mountains and an unfavorable environment in Hispaniola knocked Erika below tropical storm force.
The eastern Cuban city of Santiago was hit by about two hours of heavy rain on Saturday morning as the storm was falling apart.
Residents reported no flooding or other damage, saying they wished it would rain more to help alleviate a months-long drought that has hit eastern Cuba particularly hard.
'It's a little cloudy, there's some wind, but not very strong. But I wish it would keep raining to fill up the reservoirs, because we really need it,' said Jorge Barrera, a 56-year-old mechanical engineer.
Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said in a televised address late Friday that damage inflicted by the storm set that island back 20 years. Some 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain fell on the mountainous island.
'The extent of the devastation is monumental. It is far worse than expected,' he said, adding that hundreds of homes, bridges and roads have been destroyed.
'We have, in essence, to rebuild Dominica.'
John Cagialosi, a hurricane specialist at the center, warned that people in Florida should still brace for heavy rain. The above map which showed a previous trajectory of the storm, which caused Florida to declare a state of emergency
Flooding and mudslides brought devastation to the island nation of Dominica as the storm worked its way west and north. Above, people are left either side of a smashed road
At least 20 people died in the country of 70,000 people as 12 inches of rain fell in less than ten hours. Above, residents of Dominica in the capital of Roseau on Friday
Dominica's prime minister said that the country would have to rebuild after devastation caused by the storm set it back 20 years
At least 31 people have been reported missing, according to officials with the Barbados-based Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency.
The island's airports remained closed, and some communities remained isolated by flooding and landslides.
Skerrit asked people to share their resources with each other as foreign aid trickled in.
'This is a period of national tragedy,' he said. 'Floods swamped villages, destroyed homes and wiped out roads. Some communities are no longer recognizable.'
Before dissipating, Erika knocked out power to more than 200,000 people in Puerto Rico and caused more than $16 million in damage to crops there, including plantains, bananas and coffee.
In Haiti, authorities evacuated 254 prisoners in Gonaives to other locations because of flooding and two people were hospitalized after their home in Port-au-Prince collapsed in heavy rains.
Four people died and another 11 were hospitalized in Leogane, just west of the Haitian capital, when a truck carrying a liquor known locally as clairin crashed into a bus and exploded. Authorities said it apparently was raining when the accident occurred.
'The extent of the devastation is monumental. It is far worse than expected,' the island's prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit said in a televised address
Authorities said that in addition to the dead, there were 31 people missing in Dominica on Friday. Above, the village of Coliahut
This church was ruined by water pulsing through the streets of the capital city of Roseau. Some areas of the island were cut off from rescue workers
Dominica'a Douglas-Charles airport is pictured above covered in debris. It is too badly damaged for planes use. The island's other airport is also closed
The town of Fond Cole on Dominica suffered from heavy flooding. Above, a man looks out on the landscape in the wake of the storm
While the storm was stumbling over the Dominican Republic and Haiti, John Cagialosi, a hurricane specialist at the center, warned that people in Florida should still brace for heavy rain, said 'This is a potentially heavy rain event for a large part of the state,' he said.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott earlier declared a state of emergency for the entire state and officials urged residents to fill gas tanks and stockpile food and water.
Erika was a particularly wet storm, and had been moving across a region that has been struggling with drought.
Given how dry Puerto Rico and parts of Florida have been, 'it could be a net benefit, this thing,' said MIT meteorology professor Kerry Emanuel.
At 9.30 EDT, the remnants of Erika were located about 130 miles (205 kilometers) east of Camaguey, Cuba, and were moving west-northwest near 22 mph (35 kph) in a general motion expected to continue into the evening, the Hurricane Center said.
The storm's maximum sustained winds were near 35 mph (55 kph).
The Hurricane Center said Erika's remnants were expected to move near the coast of eastern and central Cuba on Saturday and into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Sunday. It said it was cancelling future public advisories
Florida Governor Rick Scott (center) announced that the entire state would be placed into a state of emergency ahead of the storm, and officials urged residents to fill gas tanks and stockpile food and water
Meteorologists have said that the storm is difficult to track and could take different paths as it approaches the United Statess. Above, a trajectory seen via satellite in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
The United States territory of Puerto Rico was also hit by heavy rain on Friday. Above, waves crash on the island in the municipality of Vieques
Forecasters hope that the storm will weaken after reaching land in places such as Puerto Rico (above), but it would strengthen as it heads back to open water
Erika is the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Above, winds and waves from Erika in the Dominican Republic
Meanwhile in the Pacific, Jimena turned into a powerful Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 125 mph (205 kph), and the Hurricane Center said it was likely to be near Category 5 status soon, though it did not pose an immediate threat to land.
After Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state emergency, local authorities started handing out sandbags, while schools and universities were being prepared for use as emergency shelters.
It was previously reported that the storm was unlikely to reach land as a hurricane, though regardless of its classification it could bring damaging winds and flooding to cities such as Miami, Orlando and Jacksonville.
Roads and buildings on the island of about 70,000 people have been smashed apart by flash floods after is received more than 12 inches of rain in less than 10 hours.
Forty-six-year-old security guard Peter Julian, who had joined friends after leaving work, returned to find his home of 20 years destroyed.
Above, two Floridians in Hialeah, Miami-Dade County, buy supplies at the supermarket after officials urged them to stockpile food and water
On Friday stormy weather could already been seen around Miami, with a huge waterspout visible not far from land. Above, a resident of Hollywood, Florida with sandbags
'I am blessed to be alive. God was not ready for me ... I have lost everything and now have to start all over again,' he said.
Some disaster-struck areas such as Petite Savanne have yet to be reached because of mudslides, while the nation's airports have been rendered inoperable by the ride of debris swept onto the island.
Neighbouring countries have donated helicopters to search and rescue efforts, as 31 people were also reported missing.
For days, forecasters had described Erika, the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, as unusually hard to predict due to disruption from wind patterns and its interaction over land, which weakens a storm, and warm water, which provides added energy.
Earlier forecasts indicated Erika could become the first hurricane to hit Florida since Wilma in October 2005.