MONDAY in Juan Dolio, DR
Monday morning has brought us even more rain and higher intensity winds. School buses were TURNED around WITH kids on them because the situation on the roads is so dangerous from flying objects and severe flooding. The enormous billboard in front of our development was blown over and hit some power lines. Many trees are down. There are stranded cars, trucks and motorcycles everywhere.
This storm seems to have backed up on the DR instead of moving forward. The local radar reports show that we have LOTS more rain coming and even more intense winds. We are well over 12" of rain so far. NO ONE knew this was going to hit us and many of us are a bit upset that there appears to be nothing we can do when a TD gets upgraded ONTOP of us. There was no last minute prep time (fortunately I keep supplies) and outdoor furniture is being thrown about. No one boarded windows...nothing like the prep for Hurricane Dean and Dean wound up being a BUST in terms of wind and flooding (only storm surge); this TS is hitting the DR on all accounts--wind, rain, flooding, and surge.
The power was out a good portion of last night and having the windows open just made our in-house flooding worse. We slept (sort of) with doors, windows and even the cement walls rattling.
SUNDAY
Well, this Tropical Storm sort of surprised us (including me, weather watcher
and disaster prep queen)...The S coast of the DR has been getting pounded by
rain and high winds with gusts and ocassional thunder/lightening. The
prediction is for 8-12 inches of rain from Noel but we've already exceeded 12"
in our area of Juan Dolio.
Our family drove to the Capital (Santo Domingo) today not knowing that TD had
gone to TS Noel. I commented on how turbulent the Caribbean Sea was (major
waves crashing onto the rocks that lined Las America's Hwy.) The Capital was
quite flooded but everyone was going about their business. It was only after
we returned home that I checked the satellite weather and various sites. Sure
enough, the vigorous rain, wind and lightening weren't just run of the mill.
Our chorus of frogs is SOOOO happy, but our cats and golden retriever have had
enough rain and are appearing wonder WHY when we can turn off the lights are we
not able to turn off the rain. Our power, wifi and satellite have been doing
their usual on-off-on-off (especially during shows we want to watch or during
downloads on the computer.) Two storm-related causalties in our house stem from
the flooding water that pours in under our doors, onto the slick tile, and runs
down their stairs. Yesterday I fell very hard on my right buttock, twisted my
left ankle and chipped a tooth; this morning our 12 year old Tristen fell and
really hit his elbow hard (but it's not broken.) It's a bit like tropical ice
skating.
I expect the dirt roads through the batays to be very difficult tomorrow. This
will make for an interesting trip to the clinic (I routinely get stuck in mud
and seemingly bottomless puddles.) We are "scheduled" for more rain this week
so I guess mother nature is trying to catch up on what was a dry early rainy
season.
paz y salud,
Chris