
Last Thursday, 4 July 2024, those in Santo Domingo lived an interesting situation. For days, with Hurricane Beryl makings its way west across the Caribbean, weather forecast and emergency services alerted everyone to prevent damages the rain bands and flooding would bring. People were also told that after Beryl, another smaller storm was following. This system was in the weather forecasts everyday.
Seems everyone was so relieved to have been spared Beryl that the smaller storm, downgraded to a tropical wave, was ignored. What happened was that on Thursday afternoon, the capital city again became Venice and the tow trucks were not enough to rescue all the cars stuck in flooding streets.
People complained that the Center for Emergency Operations had uploaded a red alert for the capital city after the worst of the rains. And then on Friday, the government at 2pm ordered all non-essential government offices to close at 2pm. On Friday, only a drizzle fell.
Center for Emergency Operations Juan Manuel Mendez Garcia was bothered by all the criticism his office received for the delayed warning. Mendez, who has decades on the job, argued that everyone had been given two days warning of the imminent passing of the storm on the heels of Beryl. He made headlines for his comment that “no one is drinking rum” in his office.
The business of weather forecasting is difficult. People need to take weather reports seriously, and not wait for a third and fourth warning to act. Bottom line, at least in the capital city, be aware that the waters of a tropical wave can cause considerable flooding of streets. Stay home when possible, if a tropical wave, tropical depression, or worse storms are announced.
Read more in Spanish:
Listin Diario
Listin Diario
El Dia
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
8 July 2024