It has come to my attention that some of the people who know so very very much about the DR, and its people have fabricated some theories about PUNTA CANA that are just plain wrong.
GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT, Will you?
First is the ridiculous allegation that there are no mountains near PC. Get your facts straight!!! There are LOTS OF MOUNTAINS near PC. There is an entire MOUNTAIN RANGE (called Cordillera Oriental, meaning Eastern Mountain Range) which runs through the entire East of the island, and starts (or ends) very near PC...(say 40 Km, 25 miles or so from PC)...It runs though the Northern half of the East...NO you cannot see them from the beach...If you need your mountains to be visible from the beach for whichever purposes you are out of luck...But if you want to find NEARBY mountains, some as high as 700-800m (over 2500 feet) or so, you don't have to drive too far or too long from PC. Also, if you take the main (but older) road linking Higuey (50KM from PC) with El Seibo and beyong you will be seeing the Cordillera Oriental through your journey...
Another absolutely ridiculous 'theory' if you can call it that is that the 'risk of hurricanes' is actually higher in PC than it is in the North Shore or elsewhere. The theory is utterly nonsensical for two reasons:
1) I am yet to see any statistical evidence that it is true that the EYE of a hurricane is more likely to hit PC than any other part of the country...hurricanes seem to go wherever they want without logic...indeed some bypass the Caribbean al together and proceed on the Atlantic (passing way North of the island) heading to the N. America mainland (the Carolinas, etc), others seem to head staraight to Central America (Mitch comes to mind), passing way South of the DR, and a few go through the DR...
2) EVEN IF IT WAS TRUE --- HUMONGOUS IF -- that some parts of the island are more likely to be visited by THE EYE of a hurricane, it would make hardly any difference, for the very simple and OBVIOUS reason that the hurricanes are MUCH MUCH MUCH larger than the entire island...If you have never in your life seen a satellite picture of a hurricane, I will link a couple for you...There are plenty of them on the web...
DO NOT CONFUSE a hurricane with a tornado...Tornado winds are much more powerful and destructive than hurricane's but much more concentrated, to the point that a tornado can literally thoroughly destroy a house and leave an identical next-door house virtually intact...
OTOH, Hurricanes are MASSIVE SYSTEMS that can cover MUCH OF THE CARRIBEAN including several entire islands...the Hispaniola island (DR+Haiti) is MUCH SMALLER than a major hurricane system...so IF THE EYE (centre) of the hurricane goes through the island, the entire island will be under extremely high winds (wherever the eye goes through)...Furthermore, modern concrete buildings have NO PROBLEM withstanding hurricane-type forces...MOST OF THE DAMAGE IS CAUSED BY FLOODS resulting from the torrential rains that precede and succeed the eye of the hurricane...and once again, the hurricane systems are SO MASSIVE that as long as the EYE of a hurricane goes ANYWHERE NEAR the island the entire island will be under a lot of rain, with the corresponding floods (in flood-prone areas).
STOP THE MISINFORMATION, PLEASE.
Now, for you: Hurricane Hortense, one of the most destructive to affect the DR in recent years...you can clearly see its EYE, see how MUCH BIGGER than the island it is...and by the way, see what part of the island is closer to the EYE (hint: NOT PC).
Here is again Hortense, a bit farther North and near peak strength:
GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT, Will you?
First is the ridiculous allegation that there are no mountains near PC. Get your facts straight!!! There are LOTS OF MOUNTAINS near PC. There is an entire MOUNTAIN RANGE (called Cordillera Oriental, meaning Eastern Mountain Range) which runs through the entire East of the island, and starts (or ends) very near PC...(say 40 Km, 25 miles or so from PC)...It runs though the Northern half of the East...NO you cannot see them from the beach...If you need your mountains to be visible from the beach for whichever purposes you are out of luck...But if you want to find NEARBY mountains, some as high as 700-800m (over 2500 feet) or so, you don't have to drive too far or too long from PC. Also, if you take the main (but older) road linking Higuey (50KM from PC) with El Seibo and beyong you will be seeing the Cordillera Oriental through your journey...
Another absolutely ridiculous 'theory' if you can call it that is that the 'risk of hurricanes' is actually higher in PC than it is in the North Shore or elsewhere. The theory is utterly nonsensical for two reasons:
1) I am yet to see any statistical evidence that it is true that the EYE of a hurricane is more likely to hit PC than any other part of the country...hurricanes seem to go wherever they want without logic...indeed some bypass the Caribbean al together and proceed on the Atlantic (passing way North of the island) heading to the N. America mainland (the Carolinas, etc), others seem to head staraight to Central America (Mitch comes to mind), passing way South of the DR, and a few go through the DR...
2) EVEN IF IT WAS TRUE --- HUMONGOUS IF -- that some parts of the island are more likely to be visited by THE EYE of a hurricane, it would make hardly any difference, for the very simple and OBVIOUS reason that the hurricanes are MUCH MUCH MUCH larger than the entire island...If you have never in your life seen a satellite picture of a hurricane, I will link a couple for you...There are plenty of them on the web...
DO NOT CONFUSE a hurricane with a tornado...Tornado winds are much more powerful and destructive than hurricane's but much more concentrated, to the point that a tornado can literally thoroughly destroy a house and leave an identical next-door house virtually intact...
OTOH, Hurricanes are MASSIVE SYSTEMS that can cover MUCH OF THE CARRIBEAN including several entire islands...the Hispaniola island (DR+Haiti) is MUCH SMALLER than a major hurricane system...so IF THE EYE (centre) of the hurricane goes through the island, the entire island will be under extremely high winds (wherever the eye goes through)...Furthermore, modern concrete buildings have NO PROBLEM withstanding hurricane-type forces...MOST OF THE DAMAGE IS CAUSED BY FLOODS resulting from the torrential rains that precede and succeed the eye of the hurricane...and once again, the hurricane systems are SO MASSIVE that as long as the EYE of a hurricane goes ANYWHERE NEAR the island the entire island will be under a lot of rain, with the corresponding floods (in flood-prone areas).
STOP THE MISINFORMATION, PLEASE.
Now, for you: Hurricane Hortense, one of the most destructive to affect the DR in recent years...you can clearly see its EYE, see how MUCH BIGGER than the island it is...and by the way, see what part of the island is closer to the EYE (hint: NOT PC).
Here is again Hortense, a bit farther North and near peak strength:
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