Samana Weather Update (Samana, Las Galeras, Las Terrenas)

Jasper

Bronze
Jan 10, 2002
1,029
1
36
Finally received a call from my wife who is in Las Galeras with the kids. They apparently just evacuated as the town is (or expected to be tonight) under water. The line was bad and cut short so didn't quite get gist of it. Seems that most of the galeraneros have gone up to punta balandra where it is high...about 10 kms from las galeras. so far, family is well, thank God! it must be an incredible amount of rain for las galeras (sans rio) to be evacuated.

if anybody has an update on province of samana, please keep it in this file so that we can find it immediately. thanks!

ken appreciate your updates. let me know if any of the drug runners' boats go down!
 

Jasper

Bronze
Jan 10, 2002
1,029
1
36
from saturday's HOY

http://www.hoy.com.do/(okf34x3eejnitoicbqjanp45)/app/article.aspx?id=24003

200 houses destroyed in las galeras; 400 in samana; 60 in las terrenas!

another article mentions that there are boats from the port on the malecon in samana!??? please confirm.
 

Jasper

Bronze
Jan 10, 2002
1,029
1
36
photo of samana harbour

http://www.diariolibre.com/(n4iraq45rfhmm245dzrfod45)/aspx/article.aspx?id=20536

this photo on diario libre's cover page looks like samana as i see balaguer's bridge to nowhere in the background; and the boats look familiar- one looks like samana>sabana ferry.
 

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
495
83
Yes, Jaspar, that is a picture of Samana. The white boat belongs to Miguel Bezi of Transporte Maritimo Miniediel.

Jasper said:
http://www.diariolibre.com/(n4iraq45rfhmm245dzrfod45)/aspx/article.aspx?id=20536

this photo on diario libre's cover page looks like samana as i see balaguer's bridge to nowhere in the background; and the boats look familiar- one looks like samana>sabana ferry.
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
982
113
Jasper, I tried to contact you but you have disabled e-mails and PMs, so I am posting this request on the board. I see you have had some contact with your family in Las Galeras. We are cousins of Yanett Guzman, as in Wolfgang, Yanett and Camilla of Caribe Fun Rentals, next door to Paradiso bungalows. None of the family in La Vega, Bonao or the capital have had any contact with them. If there is any way you could find out for me how they are, or get a message to them that the family are worried, I would greatly appreciate it.
 

Jasper

Bronze
Jan 10, 2002
1,029
1
36
Chirimoya said:
Jasper, I tried to contact you but you have disabled e-mails and PMs, so I am posting this request on the board. I see you have had some contact with your family in Las Galeras. We are cousins of Yanett Guzman, as in Wolfgang, Yanett and Camilla of Caribe Fun Rentals, next door to Paradiso bungalows. None of the family in La Vega, Bonao or the capital have had any contact with them. If there is any way you could find out for me how they are, or get a message to them that the family are worried, I would greatly appreciate it.


Hi there! know them well. we have kids the same age and their daughter has been at my son's birthday party recently. my wife called today to say that highway was opened up. she is heading back today. lights were back on in las galeras since yesterday apparently. still no phones in samana/las galeras except for cell phones. by the tone of her voice it sounds like alot of damage has been done. i will pass on your message. i wouldn't worry too much though. i am sure they're fine.
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
982
113
Jasper said:
Hi there! know them well. we have kids the same age and their daughter has been at my son's birthday party recently. my wife called today to say that highway was opened up. she is heading back today. lights were back on in las galeras since yesterday apparently. still no phones in samana/las galeras except for cell phones. by the tone of her voice it sounds like alot of damage has been done. i will pass on your message. i wouldn't worry too much though. i am sure they're fine.

Thanks, Jasper. If you know them well it is possible we know each other, we are frequent visitors to LG. Our son is the same age as Camilla too.

Good to hear the road is open, and that they have power. With any luck the phones will be back on soon and we can find out how they fared.

We plan on visiting in the next couple of weeks, if conditions allow.
 

stan chapman

New member
Nov 28, 2002
143
0
0
Chirimoya said:
Thanks, Jasper. If you know them well it is possible we know each other, we are frequent visitors to LG. Our son is the same age as Camilla too.

Good to hear the road is open, and that they have power. With any luck the phones will be back on soon and we can find out how they fared.

We plan on visiting in the next couple of weeks, if conditions allow.


Chiri, can I pm you later with some messages for LG? I don't want to clutter the land traffic lines at this time. Hugs to Camilla. Stan.
 

CaroMel

New member
Sep 17, 2004
15
0
0
LG friends

Knowing Wolfgang, he and all the others, Enzo, Juan, Danillo, Manfred et al, will be busy turning L.G back into Paradise.

I'm sure when the phones are repaired they'll be PM-ing us with updates

Mel and Carol
 

stan chapman

New member
Nov 28, 2002
143
0
0
Car A Mel said:
Knowing Wolfgang, he and all the others, Enzo, Juan, Danillo, Manfred et al, will be busy turning L.G back into Paradise.

I'm sure when the phones are repaired they'll be PM-ing us with updates

Mel and Carol
I'm sure the ex pats will recover better than some of the Dominican families I know, but I hurt for all of them. We just returned from an idyllic week living in a remote lighthouse. Seems pretty paltry now. Stan.
 

CaroMel

New member
Sep 17, 2004
15
0
0
Ditto my friend, but as you and I both know, there is probably less of a "them and us" culture there than most places on the Island. A hardy breed in the North East!

Mel and Carol ;)
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
982
113
stan chapman said:
Chiri, can I pm you later with some messages for LG? I don't want to clutter the land traffic lines at this time. Hugs to Camilla. Stan.

Stan, please go ahead, that's fine. We have kept on trying to get through on the phone today but no luck so far. When I hear I will post an update here.
 

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
495
83
I got a phone call from Samana this evening from a land-line phone. Apparently phone service has been restored.
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
982
113
News from Las Galeras

OK, I finally got through at lunchtime today, although according to Yanett the phones have been on and off for the last couple of days and she has tried phoning.

Good news, they are all right, but they?ve been through a hell of an experience, with their house flooding up to waist level, and branches falling all over the property. Luckily there has been minimal damage. They?ve managed to save most of their posessions except for some videos and books, the vehicles are OK but the garden is a mess. They have almost finished clearing up, including getting rid of several truckloads of debris from the garden.

I was amazed by Yanett?s spirit. She sounded upbeat and cheerful but said it was a weird feeling experiencing just how vulnerable people can be when nature does its stuff. Yanett told me she felt they had got off lightly compared to many of the locals who had lost everything and were left ?con una mano alante y el otro atras? i.e. without a thing, not even the clothes on their backs.

Las Galeras is a mess, she said, but there is a lot of clearing up going on. Much of the damage was done inland. In fact the women who sell seafood in a hut on the beach were not badly affected. The large resort near Las Galeras, Casa Marina Bay, is having to close down for about a month due to the damage, according to Yanett, but please don?t take this as a confirmation - check with tour operators for definite information. She has taken some digital photos of the damage and will try and send them, apparently the internet cafe there has been opening for just a couple of hours at a time.

It is also good to hear - as predicted by the friends of Las Galeras who posted on this thread - that the expats and locals are rallying around to help with the clearing-up work and organising collections for people who have lost their belongings. We will be visiting soon and will take some stuff up as well.
 

Jasper

Bronze
Jan 10, 2002
1,029
1
36
Las Galeras Update

my wife called me today from a land line and i called her back though we were cut off 2 or 3 times in 10 minutes and i had to recall each time.

she tells me that it's a real mess. almost everybody that did not have a cement roof lost their roof. my stepson went to help someone in cocolito. they had lost their roof. inside the house the water was up to his chest and he's close to 5'10"!

a little girl in las galeras apparently drowned the first night of heavy rains when the eye was in samana. she was sister to a step son's girlfriend.

seems the media hasn't been there and has no idea of the damage. people with very little lost all they had.

lots of trees are down. we lost 4 big trees on our property but fortunately the mango trees are ok.

i hope someone can send photos. we miss andy down there.
 

Jasper

Bronze
Jan 10, 2002
1,029
1
36
Hoy of 09/24

http://www.hoy.com.do/(okf34x3eejnitoicbqjanp45)/app/article.aspx?id=24516
 

Jasper

Bronze
Jan 10, 2002
1,029
1
36
update las galeras

my wife has heard a figure of 1/2 million coconut trees in the area that were wiped out. most all coconuts fell and most will not be recoverable and will rot. food is difficult to come by. no plantains for example. rincon apparently has alot of damage to it. probably alot of trees fell down. she said that during the height of the storm there were 3' of water on main street and not due to any storm surge - all rain water....just to give you an idea of the quantity of rain. as per my wife, her uncles and aunts tell her that no storm close to this magnitude ever hit samana in their life times and they never heard of any such storm of this magnitude from their parents or grandparents who were also born in the area i.e. my wife's grandparents and great grandparents. let's hope we never see once again in our lifetimes. makes you wonder some more about global warming.