So yet another major hurricane is about to strike the shores of the American continent very soon, in fact it has struck the island of Dominica already, the wind speeds right now are close to 160 miles per hour. This hurricane makes it three major storms within a span of just two months.
This time around the battered country is Dominican Republic and it is on course for a direct hit on the US territory of Puerto Rico, the first in 85 years.National Hurricane Centre has recorded wind speed up to 160 mph and has caused significant damage to the infrastructure in Dominican Republic. When it hit Dominican shores late Monday evening, 9.15 pm Eastern Time it was already Category 5.
The Dominican Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, wrote on his Facebook wall that the roof of his house was blown away and his house was flooded, though he later confirmed having been rescued.
Bracing for the hurricane in Puerto Rico, the governor, Ricardo Rosello, has already declared state of emergency in the territory ahead of the storm that is likely to hit Puerto Rico late Wednesday.
A hurricane warning from the NHC remains in effect for Guadeloupe, Dominica. St Kitts. Nevis and Montessarat, the British and US Virgin Islands as well as Puerto Rico, Culebra and Vasques.
The US President Trump has already issued emergency declaration for federal assistance to augment the initiatives that management in the territory are taking. Maria is strikingly similar to Hurricane Andrew the Category 5 hurricane that hit the Bahamas and Florida in 1992 said CNN’s meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. According to meteorologist, both are compact and have same wind speed, 165 mph when it hit Southern Florida.
Just before hurricane expected landfall the Prime Minister Skerrit urged residents to take any belongings that could potentially become projectiles, “next few days should be placed on cleaning up around the house and on your properties rather than stockpiling weeks of foods and other supplies” “this is not the system that will linger very long. Therefore, the goal must not be on stockpiling supplies but on mitigating damage caused by flying objects”
On the other hand Puerto Rico that sheltered the evacuees from other Caribbean Islands after Hurricane Irma is now bracing for a major catastrophe. The governor has ordered evacuations and has put extensive efforts for safety of life and property. He said that “this sort of event is a very dangerous event, high winds, a slow storm and a lot of rainfall. And this coming just about two weeks after Irma skirted off northeast of Puerto Rico”
According to the governor 500 shelters had already been put in place and people were being moved to those shelters. He hoped that his efforts could weather the storm and hoped to rebuild the beleaguered territory. He called this as “catastrophic”.
The governor hoped that it will be two-and-a-half days of tropical storm, Tuesday up until late Thursday. Wednesday he opined that the territory will bear the brunt of sustained category four or five winds. In his estimation this will be more catastrophic than Hurricanes Hugo and Georges. Hugo killed five people in Puerto Rico in 1989 and Georges caused more than $1.7 billion damage in 1998.
People in the southern Puerto Rican town of Salinas were seen queuing for water and other supplies. The Puerto Rican Convention Centre in capital city of San Juan to the north was expecting influx of evacuees from the country.
The storm in its wake will effect parts of Leeward Islands, the British and US Virgin Islands and other Leeward Islands were also under threat. Similarly, other tropical storm warnings were in effect for Martinique, Antigua and Barbuda, Saba and St Eustatius, St Martin, Anguilla and St Lucia.
The government of Dominican Republic has issued a hurricane watch from Isla Saona to Puerto Plata, and a tropical storm watch west of Puerto Plata to the northern Dominican Republic – Haiti border.
The British Foreign Office said that more than 1300 troops are in the region, either on affected islands or on the nearby locations, all set and ready to help the effected populace once Maria subsides. One military team has been deployed at the British Virgin Islands. Similarly, one military reconnaissance team is on standby to go to Montessarat and assess needs. HMS Ocean according to British was set to arrive in the area by week’s end loaded with 60 tons of supplies sent by the British government. Unfortunately, though not confirmed yet, another potentially catastrophic hurricane named “Jose” is also brewing up in Atlantic, tropical storm warnings are spawned for parts of US East Coast. It is believed that this might bring “dangerous surf and rip currents along the East Coast” in the next few days.
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