CUBA/DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Thousands displaced as Hurricane Irene brings flooding in its wake in the Dominican Republic and Cuba

Record ID: 333200

  • Title: CUBA/DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Thousands displaced as Hurricane Irene brings flooding in its wake in the Dominican Republic and Cuba
  • Date: 25th August 2011
  • Summary: SAN CRISTOBAL, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (AUGUST 24, 2011) (REUTERS) SWOLLEN RIVER VARIOUS OF DAMAGED HOUSES NEXT TO RIVER HURRICANE VICTIM, 24-YEAR-OLD DOLORES GULLEN (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) HURRICANE VICTIM, 24-YEAR-OLD DOLORES GULLEN, SAYING: "When it comes you have to run out because the water can surprise you in bed." INTERIOR OF DESTROYED HOUSE NIGUA RIVER PEOPLE PICKING UP BELONGINGS (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) HURRICANE VICTIM, 44-YEAR-OLD RAFAEL ARAUJO, SAYING: "There is nothing left. I didn't have time. We were trapped in the morning, like at two in the morning. We don't have anything. What does God want? I followed his word and paid through my work." VARIOUS OF DESTROYED HOUSE PEOPLE WALKING IN RAIN VARIOUS OF MUD PILED UP ON HOMES DESTROYED HOUSE SWOLLEN RIVER DESTROYED HOUSE RESCUE WORKERS (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) CIVIL DEFENSE OPERATIONS HEAD, DELFIN ANTONIO RODRIGUEZ, SAYING: "The evaluators are figuring out the damages in the areas where the river has already receded. We can't say how much damage there was but approximately 2,000 to 2,500 people have been displaced and are in temporary housing or staying with relatives or friends. We have also received reports that some people have disappeared in Cambita San Cristobal." RAIN FALLING
  • Embargoed: 9th September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cuba, Dominican Republic
  • City:
  • Country: Cuba Dominican Republic
  • Topics: Accidents,Weather
  • Reuters ID: LVA5MRBNR67625XX0BJN425C9P0R
  • Story Text: Several people are thought to be missing on Wednesday (August 24) after Hurricane Irene pounded the Dominican Republic.
    Around 7,000 residents were evacuated before the storm hit.
    Nothing could be done to save their homes.
    In San Cristobal, outside the capital Santo Domingo, water and mud still covered the streets.
    The water bore down on many homes, ripping its way through walls and wreaking extensive damage.
    "When it comes you have to run out because the water can surprise you in bed," hurricane victim, 24-year-old Dolores Gullen said.
    Some locals said they had lost everything.
    "There is nothing left. I didn't have time. We were trapped in the morning, like at two in the morning. We don't have anything. What does God want? I followed his word and paid through my work," 44-year-old Rafael Araujo said.
    Neighboring Haiti, where many people are still living in tent camps after an earthquake last year, got through relatively unscathed.
    China's news agency Xinhua reported that some 11,500 were displaced in the two countries.
    In the San Cristobal area alone over 2,000 had lost their homes.
    "The evaluators are figuring out the damages in the areas where the river has already receded. We can't say how much damage there was but approximately 2,000 to 2,500 people have been displaced and are in temporary housing or staying with relatives or friends. We have also received reports that some people have disappeared in Cambita San Cristobal," Civil Defense Operations Head, Delfin Antonio Rodriguez, said.
    Cuba saw some flooding in the eastern Guantanamo Province, but residents had been evacuated by an early-warning system before the rains hit.
    Hurricane Irene, which strengthened to a Category 3 storm as it barreled towards the U.S. East Coast, has now turned northwestward with its eye moving over Crooked and Acklins islands, the National Hurricane Center said in a report on Wednesday.
    At 11:00 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT), Irene was located about 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Long Island, Bahamas, and about 285 miles (460 km) southeast of Nassau and was packing maximum sustained winds of 115 miles per hour (185 km/h).
    The core of Irene will move across the southeastern and central Bahamas Wednesday night and over the northwestern Bahamas on Thursday.
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