Tropical Storm Bertha swirled over the eastern Dominican Republic late yesterday after it whipped Puerto Rico with heavy rains and strong winds that knocked out power in parts of the region.
The storm’s maximum sustained winds dropped slightly to 45 mph (75 kph), but slow strengthening was expected by Monday. Bertha was centred about 60 miles (95 kilometres) east-northeast of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and was moving west-northwest at 22 mph (35 kph) yesterday evening.
The storm passed just southwest of Puerto Rico yesterday afternoon, dropping between three and five inches (8-13 centimetres) of rain, with isolated amounts of up to eight inches (20 centimetres).
Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla warned of flooding, landslides and swollen rivers, which he urged people not to try and cross.
“It’s something that sounds obvious but it happens so often,” he said. “It’s not the time to take risks.”
Authorities reported several downed trees in Puerto Rico’s eastern region and two downed electrical posts. Nearly 39,000 households were without power and more than 3,000 without water. The lights also had gone out at the island’s emergency management agency during a press conference yesterday morning.
Officials said most of the power outages occurred in the island’s central mountainous region following more than 1,200 lightning strikes that occurred in the area during afternoon hours alone.
Tropical storm warnings were in effect for the eastern Dominican Republic, southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos islands. A tropical storm watch was in effect for central Bahamas.
As the storm approached the Dominican Republic, authorities banned vessels from operating along the country’s east coast, which is popular with tourists. Rescue crews also travelled to the country’s eastern and northeast regions to help with evacuations if needed.
Source-AP
