Hurricanes...Do I Have to Worry if I'm in Jarabacoa???

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
495
83
Yes, much safer than living on the east and south coasts or in Samana. To get to you, a hurricane would have to go across the island. They sometimes do that, but more likely starting around Baharona and heading toward Haiti. When a hurricane passes over land, it always loses force. There is no warm ocean water it can get energy from and the rough terraine help to break up the storm. It may reform and gain more strength when it gets to the Atlantic Ocean, but when it passing over Jarabacoa, if it does, it will be much weaker.

To sum, the odds very much in your favor there will be no hurricane pass over Jarabacoa, and if it should, it will be weakened by the mountains and the passage over land.
 

roches

New member
Jun 5, 2007
26
0
0
You have to watch out for mudslides, flashfloods and rivers bursting their banks. A lot of water comes down.


The first response sounded fantastic...I was thinking I'd be just as safe as I am here in Maryland...since most of the Hurricanes coming up the coast hit North Carolina and then swing back out into the Atlantic...but the second response sounds serious :paranoid:
 

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
495
83
roches, don't lose heart. Chris is right about mudslides, flash floods, etc., caused by the rain that comes with a tropical storm, but you can keep those possibilities in mind when you decide where you are going to live. These things can be guarded against, unlike the hurricane winds. You will get a lot of good information from the people in Jarabacoa.

Mostly the people affected by mud slides, flash floods, etc., in the Dominican Republic are the very poor people who have a shack with no footings or any sort of foundation on steep hillside or who live on the bank of a river they know overflows its banks when there is a lot of rain.

You may not get all that much rain, anyway. Certainly less than you would get living on the coast when a storm passed by.
 

Chris

Gold
Oct 21, 2002
7,951
28
0
www.caribbetech.com
Jarabacoa is not a place to worry about in terms of hurricanes. Did not mean to scare you, but just to let you know that there are other things that can happen - so, if you look for a place to live, keep the comments in mind and choose well.

I once saw something in Costa Rica that has never left my mind. A Canadian fellow bought some land against a mountain side - all the locals warned him that that specific mountain side is prone to mudslides and if he builds there, his house is sure to end up under some mud or even a few feet lower down the mountain side. He ignored all this, and built this massive 'mud-diverter' out of concrete from the top of the mountain. I laughed as I could not imagine the mud obediently sliding along the 'mud-diverter'. Sure enough, his house ended up under some feet of mud the next rainy season as the mud ignored the mud diverter.
 

roches

New member
Jun 5, 2007
26
0
0
Jarabacoa is not a place to worry about in terms of hurricanes. Did not mean to scare you, but just to let you know that there are other things that can happen - so, if you look for a place to live, keep the comments in mind and choose well.

I once saw something in Costa Rica that has never left my mind. A Canadian fellow bought some land against a mountain side - all the locals warned him that that specific mountain side is prone to mudslides and if he builds there, his house is sure to end up under some mud or even a few feet lower down the mountain side. He ignored all this, and built this massive 'mud-diverter' out of concrete from the top of the mountain. I laughed as I could not imagine the mud obediently sliding along the 'mud-diverter'. Sure enough, his house ended up under some feet of mud the next rainy season as the mud ignored the mud diverter.

funny...I assure you I will take heed to all warnings :cheeky:

I'm actually getting so excited...I have to be certain that I'm not putting the horse before the cart...