The National Meteorological Office recently released a bulletin in which it warns that this year “we will have more hurricane activity than is usual, in comparison to the last 45 years.” It says that seasonal forecasts have predicted a higher number of tropical storms in the Atlantic Basin in 1996 than in previous years. The most disastrous hurricane in recent Dominican history was David, which occurred in August of 1979 and which was followed soon after by tropical storm Frederick. Those two disasters caused millions of pesos in damage and among other consequences, kept the country without water and electricity service for close to two months.
Last year, hurricane Luis barely missed the island of Hispaniola , hitting Puerto Rico and other islands in the Upper Antilles. The hurricane season begins 1 May.
3-9 May 1996