DOMINICAN REPUBLIC UPDATES: First Damage Reports Come In

[Cyclone Runner]

LA REPUBLICA DOMINICANA

Frances in the DR
From: Dolores Vicioso <dolores AT dr1.com>
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 21:13:35 -0400

There is relief in the DR after reports have come in that the hurricane
will pass well to our north. After the experiences of course-changing
David (1979) and George (1998), we Dominicans take hurricanes and their shifty character seriously. For a full recount of Frances in the
Dominican Republic, including its passage through Samana and Puerto
Plata, see http://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34105

Dolores Vicioso
http://www.dr1.com

Hurricane to pass very close, but not enough to...
From: "Guillermo S." <gaquiles20 AT hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 14:50:42 -0400

Reporting from Santo Domingo...

CNE keeps the alert nation wide as hurricane 'Frances' advances north of Puerto Rico today.

We are expecting showers and some winds, but nothing serious as it seems it will just pass right north of us, but close enough to make the whole country to feels its effects, North Coast line though, have to take serious measures about this tropical system because it is the closest point to be affected by this powerful hurricane.

Right now, sunny with few clouds, great for beach (as always ), however, bad weather is approaching anytime soon.

 Stay tuned...

Hurricane Frances a Threat to North Coast of Dominican Republic
From: "quaqualita - Cabarete" <quaqualita AT hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 03:34:02 +0000

At 11 PM AST...0300z...the government of the Dominican Republic has issued a
tropical storm watch for the northern coast of the Dominican Republic from
Manzanillo Bay eastward to Cabo engano.
Radhames Salcedo, director of Civil Defense was on TV here tonight fibnally
telling Dominicans about the threat from Frances. I hope folks listen. There
was mention of Leonel closing all clubs, discotehcques, etc. tomorrrow.

From DRSol (http:www.drsol.info) Based on the NHC Position 19.7 N/ 61.4 W at
at 11pm AST

Bavaro............ 18.71N/68.45W 466 Miles bearing 98 Degrees (08:17 09/01)
Cabarete.......... 19.75N/70.40W 586 Miles bearing 90 Degrees (16:51 09/01)
La Romana......... 18.42N/68.97W 503 Miles bearing 100 Degrees (10:55 09/01)
Las Terenas....... 19.31N/69.53W 531 Miles bearing 93 Degrees (12:55 09/01)
Luperon........... 19.90N/70.95W 622 Miles bearing 89 Degrees (19:25 09/01)
Monte Cristi...... 19.87N/71.65W 667 Miles bearing 89 Degrees (22:38 09/01)
Puerto Plata...... 19.80N/70.68W 604 Miles bearing 89 Degrees (18:08 09/01)
Nagua............. 19.38N/69.83W 550 Miles bearing 92 Degrees (14:17 09/01)
Rio San Juan...... 19.65N/70.08W 565 Miles bearing 90 Degrees (15:21 09/01)
Samana............ 19.21N/69.32W 518 Miles bearing 94 Degrees (12:00 09/01)
Santiago.......... 19.45N/70.70W 606 Miles bearing 92 Degrees (18:17 09/01)
Santo Domingo..... 18.47N/69.54W 539 Miles bearing 99 Degrees (13:30 09/01)
Sosua............. 19.77N/70.52W 594 Miles bearing 90 Degrees (17:25 09/01)

Note: Time in paranthesis is a very rough estimate of the closest approach
based on current speed and location. The storm may speed up or slow down
which will affect this estimate greatly.

An high pressure ridge to the north of Frances continues strong but
weakening is expected at 72 hours which would allow a more northward
movement at that time.
At current speed the center will pass Las Terenas in 37 hours, and Cabarete
in 41. This is not in time to see the ridge weaken to affect the course near
the DR.
Frances is strenthening and the wind field will be larger around the system
as it passes here than it is now which means it must clear farther to the
north to spare the north coast the effects.
Direction remains 275 degrees true. 286 is now needed to clear 21.5 and
indications are we need it at least 22.0 to escape serious effects if the
strengthening continues.

For local updates also check http://www.drsol.info

APCEDI
http://www.afap.org/apcedi/

[HurricaneBill]

Good. The last thing Hispaniola needs right now is a major hurricane.

[Cyclone Runner]

The little bit of good news that there is with Frances, seems to be that it has gone far enough north to only give breezy rain showers to the Dominicans. The Northern Coast of the Dominican Republic is under the Southern Convection Bands, but so far the overall effect is minimal.

Frances in the DR
From: Dolores Vicioso <dolores AT dr1.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 08:28:09 -0400

Santo Domingo on the southeast coast, Punta Cana on the east coast
experienced lots of sunny hot weather as the storm made its way past
the country. On the north coast big swells came in ("but overall seas
not too bad), some light rain, winds that seemed to be 15-20 mph, but
nothing much out of the usual. People did take it seriously. In Santo
Domingo last night supermarkets were packed as people prepared for the
worst (which meant a last minute unexpected turn inland). Apparently,
Frances passed too north of the country to have an effect. For
coverage of the storm as it made its way past the DR, see
http://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34105

[Cyclone Runner]

News from Cabarete on the North Central Coast of DR

Today, 07:43 AM Cabarete 01.09.04
Peter & Alex

Now 08.40am and been walking on the beach since 06.30am.
2 metre waves on Bozo Beach. Wyndham Tangerine losing it's newly planted palm trees but for some reason they've tied them all together with ropes?? They also lost the disabled tourists platform on the beach and all the small table tops from high seas in the night.
You can still walk along the beach but the sea is quite high.
Waves and high surf out on the reef - possibly 3 metres in height. Wind from the west is blowing the surf tops some distance out on the horizon, nice sight!
Cabarete Bay beach is littered with garbage and weeds right up to the palm tree line, but water not reaching the bars yet?
We had rain in the night and 2 claps of thunder only - no real winds!!
Bit of a non event really??
Currently overcast, cloudy with the threat of rain by the look of it.

[Cyclone Runner]

FIRST DAMAGE REPORTS FROM STORM
A major squall line moved into North Central Dominican Republic about noon and gusty winds and heavy rains have commenced in the Puerto Plata where Red Alert has been raised. 6 beach-front houses have been destroyed in Nagua from high waves. Over 200 low lying coastal residents in Puerto Plata, Nagua and Higuey have been evacuated

From DRSol Reports Today:

10:00AM (Xanadu Ranch between Cabarete and Sosua 19.79N/70.5W) Just when I thought we might escape everything we have one of the strong thunderstorm bands racing at us from sea right now. Another 5 minutes and we'll be in a squall. Nasty looking to. Roll clouds and a green sky beneath it. As I said earlier, the next few hours will be the worst. But I think we have amazingly escaped most of it. I'll tell you what though ... we can see a good part of the storm from here and I wouldn't bet two cheles that I could get more than 2 miles offshore before hitting the squalls through most of this. THAT's how close this monster came. And it's not quite through with us yet. The satellite shows the storm is 5x wider south of the eye than north. It looks like it's straining out to reach the DR and slap us. No time left though but good try Frances.

11:40AM (Cofresi) A squall passed through Cofresi with 35 mph gusts. Rain is starting to fall now. Conditions are deteriorating. A report from Nagua said that some wooden shacks where destroyed by winds.

12:15PM (Xanadu Ranch between Cabarete and Sosua 19.79N/70.5W)  El Caribe / CDN reports 6 houses destroyed by waves in Nagua, various areas have been evacuated. Puerto Plata is now under "red alert", strong winds are expected to effect this area between 1pm and 3 pm. These photos were taken from between 10:00AM and 12:00PM AST as one of the heavy rain bands moved ashore at Xanadu. Note the white color of the water close to the tree line. The beaches are taking a beating. That's waves breaking a considerable distance out and up from normal. As of now we continue to see one of the heavy rain bands sliding by rapidly from west to east. Occasionally the gust front advances south of us. When it does the winds kick up in seconds to a steady 30-35 mph. On the other side it's 5-15. I can imagine the wind speeds go up pretty fast as you get deeper past that first band. We're awfully luck at the moment. Another 20 miles or so and we'd be having problems. It's amazing to me, after 30 years of weather forecasting experience, with a degree in atmospheric physics, how any otherwise sane, intelligent, educated person - especially some who have owned boats or sailed - can continually play Polyanna and ignore the death and destruction that is sitting just a few miles literally off the coast. Not being prepared, because you don't want to face the possibility can get you killed. Fast. I am much happier having taken reasonable precautions here to guard my home and family than to have said "oh it'll miss" and hope for the best. People never cease to amaze me. Especially people who should know better. From the government to several responsible news organizations here Frances was continually downplayed from "not affecting the national territory" to "no need to prepare it'll pass well north so come on down and enjoy your vacation". It worked. Hardly anyone along the north coast prepared at all. At the time of these photos the eye was just 125 miles or so north, and a 140 mile an hour wind max was only 50-60 miles away. Sustained TS winds were no more than 10-15 miles out. Saying "don't worry" or worse yet, tomorrow "I told you we'd be fine" is more than irresponsible. It's criminal. 20 miles further south and many people could have been killed. Good luck to TCI and the Bahamas. This is a nasty storm. Glad it'll be gone from the Dominican Republic as a threat in a few hours.