First death from Tropical Storm Chantal
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Tropical Storm Chantal skirted the southern coasts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti on Wednesday, losing force but heavy rain still posed a threat to some of the region's most vulnerable people.
The storm did not make landfall on the island of Hispaniola shared by the two nations. But Chantal brought heavy rain to areas prone to flooding and landslides in places where many people live in flimsy homes of plywood and corrugated steel.
In both countries, people fortified houses with tarps and wood and gathered supplies, largely ignoring warnings to leave their neighborhoods.
"We're going to wait until it's over. We're already used to this," said 36-year-old Sergio Guzman, who along the banks of a river near Santo Domingo.
A Dominican firefighter was killed in the community of Maimon, about 50 miles (85 kilometers) north of the capital, Santo Domingo, when he was swept away by floodwaters as he tried to clear a storm drain, said Luis Luna, director of the country's civil defense agency. The death of 26-year-old Juan Ramon Rodriguez was believed to be the first caused by Chantal, which began moving through the Caribbean on Tuesday.
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