Has Constanza ever been hit by a hurricane?

beeza

Silver
Nov 2, 2006
3,480
732
113
A few of us light aircraft owners are watching the intensification of Irma and there is a probability that it could hit the North Coast as a very powerful hurricane.

Three of us have planes parked at POP and we are looking for options.  One is Constanza.  We will probably do a recce flight in the next few days to check it out in terms of parking and tie downs.  

The topography suggests it should be a hurricane shelter.  Just asking if anyone knows differently.
 

keepcoming

Moderator - Living & General Stuff
May 25, 2011
4,734
2,491
113
Hopefully all is in vain...but you have the right approach. Better safe than sorry.
 

cavok

Silver
Jun 16, 2014
9,529
4,045
113
Cabarete
I think it really depends on the storm track. Constanza is only 50nm from POP and it's in a little valley. Any possibility of flooding? Also, winds tend to be higher at altitude. Never been there, so don't know if the surrounding mountains would help.

If it's tracking along the north coast, I think I'd want to be as far away as possible - maybe Barahona(?). I've been in 6 hurricanes. There's a lot of variables.
 

Dolores1

DR1
May 3, 2000
8,215
37
48
www.
Georges in 1998 (a hurricane category 3) was on track to hit Puerto Plata in the north. On the very last day, it changed course and swerved to hit the south (La Romana).

I recall Hurricane David (Category 5) entered and affected the central mountain range in 1979.
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,097
6,247
113
South Coast
Georges in 1998 (a hurricane category 3) was on track to hit Puerto Plata in the north. On the very last day, it changed course and swerved to hit the south (La Romana).

I recall Hurricane David (Category 5) entered and affected the central mountain range in 1979.

I recall David all too well, it was a disaster along the beaches of San Cristobal province where our house is. Hope to never see that again.
 

charlise

Bronze
Nov 1, 2012
751
0
0
Question to the ones who experienced a hurricane here. I know the wind is an Important factor, but talking about rain and water, does it compare to what we experienced last fall on the North Coast where we were flooded from Gaspard Hernandez to Puerto Plata ?? And I mean flooded.... Like for more than 2 weeks... Just asking you know. Water, I don't care because like they say, : Been there, done that. Wind, I have a little bit of experience with snow storms in Québec that lasted 2-3 days. But I just want to know in advance what to expect, not in km/hr but by examples of what might fly around..
 

KateP

Silver
May 28, 2004
2,845
6
38
Question to the ones who experienced a hurricane here. I know the wind is an Important factor, but talking about rain and water, does it compare to what we experienced last fall on the North Coast where we were flooded from Gaspard Hernandez to Puerto Plata ?? And I mean flooded.... Like for more than 2 weeks... Just asking you know. Water, I don't care because like they say, : Been there, done that. Wind, I have a little bit of experience with snow storms in Québec that lasted 2-3 days. But I just want to know in advance what to expect, not in km/hr but by examples of what might fly around..

A lot depends on the strength of the storm and where it goes. I was in Santo Domingo when George hit and I had never seen our street flood like it did. First time I had heard howling winds in my life, not even the snow storms of Quebec compared to them. Water was rushing in through our aluminum "persianas" as if someone was standing in front of it with a fireman's hose on full blast. We spent the whole day just sweeping water out the front door (which was somewhat protected by the marquesina as our house thankfully was about 3 feet above street level. Water reached the last step but at that height there was a dip in the street next to our house that went down about 15 feet over a block so the level never went above that. Took several days for all the water to disappear, we were lucky that the storm didn't hover over us longer than it did. The storm was just starting to hit us when our upstairs neighbour's tin roof went flying off and landed 3 streets down and her stuff ended up god knows where. We had never felt that helpless in our lives. No warning, no idea that a hurricane was heading our way, we had no way to prepare or buy supplies. That same evening, neighbours started trying to break into our marquesina to get to the cisterna since few had water on hand. The colmado was doing good business selling off anything that needed refrigeration as they knew it would be several days before we'd get electricity back (in the end took 2 weeks). Since then I take any type of storm very seriously and plan ahead even if it might not hit.
 

Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
8,671
1,133
113
Hurricanes don't generally stick around (like Harvey did in Texas). They move through much like a thunderstorm at 10-20 mph. A hurricane is much bigger than your typical thunderstorm so really heavy rain can last for hours but not many days/weeks like last Nov/Dec. Rainfall can be really heavy and flooding can occur. There is generally a beginning and an end to a hurricane. The size of the storm, its path and how fast it is moving determines the length of the rain event.

In winds of 90+ mph, everything you can lift and move around will be blown around. Heavy objects like really big planters can be blown over and roll around if the plants in them are tall - they shouldn't become airborne though. Items with a large surface area are at particular risk. A general rule would be if you can move it, better put it somewhere out of the wind; If you can't move it, tie it down.
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,964
936
113
You may be better off taking it to Santo Domingo, a whole island between the bird & a hurricane.

There may be some hangar space in Santiago.

Be prepared to bring your own tie downs.