Today marks the official beginning of the 2005 Hurricane Season all along the East Coast of the United States and across the entire Caribbean. This means that for the next 182 days the Dominican Republic and the rest of the Caribbean are facing the threat of tropical cyclones or hurricanes.
According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, there could be between 12 and 15 named storms, and as many as nine tropical cyclones that reach hurricane wind speeds of 74 miles per hour or greater. Prominent storm forecaster, Dr. William Gray of Colorado State University has analyzed his data and come up with a good possibility of 15 named tropical cyclones and eight hurricanes. As reported in Hoy, Dr. Gray is hinting that current atmospheric conditions are similar to the conditions of the 1930s when there were many active storms, including the 1930 San Xenon disaster in Santo Domingo.
Last year, hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne were the most damaging to the Caribbean region. Jeanne killed more than 3,000 people in neighboring Haiti and 27 in the Dominican Republic. Ivan wiped out 89% of all buildings on the tiny island of Grenada and killed 37 people there. Charley and Ivan were also the second and third most damaging hurricanes in US history. A survey by the Mason-Dixon company showed that 89% of those interviewed in the US did not have even the basic concepts of hurricanes or how to protect themselves during a storm event.
People are probably even less informed in the DR. The local newspapers today publish special sections on preparedness. Diario Libre also features a tracking map. El Caribe newspaper newspaper points out today that there are several zones in the most endangered areas along the South Coast that are just not prepared for rescue or assistance work after a hurricane strikes. Last year, more than 30,000 Dominicans were moved to shelters after a red alert just before Hurricane Jeanne hit the island. Now, in Greater Santo Domingo there are 2,000 volunteers and 600 firemen prepared to go into action.
For an overview on hurricanes in the DR, see the DR1 Hurricane Page at http://dr1.com/weather/hurricanes.shtml