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Friday, March 29, 2024

Tropical storm Fay left four dead on the island of Hispaniola

CSMS Magazine Staff WritersAt least one person was reportedly dead in Haiti and three in the Dominican Republic as tropical storm Fay swept through yesterday. According to Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, head of Haiti’s civil protection department, a man died Saturday in Haiti while trying to cross La Rouyonne River near the town of Leogane, just 15 miles south of Port-au-Prince.  In the Artibonite Valley, the country’s most fertile region, rice fields were flooded and flatten, according to reports from Radio Ginen. Hundreds of small houses in the coastal town of Jacmel on the Caribbean coast were wiped out under the weight of immense torrential downpours; and north of the capital, near the town of Arcahaie, Fay had no mercy for tons of banana crops. Acres upon acres were destroyed.  This latest storm will certainly put more stress on a population whose daily struggle to put food on the table is a constant nightmare. The dreadful food crisis that sparked riots last April is still fresh in our memory. The capital’s airport reopened Saturday afternoon, but heavy rains were still expected in the south.In neighboring Dominican Republic, according to Luis Luna Paulino, a civil defense agencydirector, a 34-year-old woman drowned when a family tried to cross a swollen river in a car. The bodies of her missing 13-year-old niece and 5-year-old nephew were found Saturday afternoon, but her husband swam to safety.And Fay does not seem be slowing down any time soon. As she moves north, a tropical storm warning has been issued for the Cayman Islands, and a tropical storm watch remains in effect for the Bahamas and Jamaica.In Cuba, the government announced hurricane watches were already in effect for the eastern provinces of Villa Clara, Cinefuegos, Matanzas, Camaguey, Ciego de Avila and Sancti Spiritus. Fay’s path was expected to take it over the southern coast of the eastern Cuba late Saturday or Sunday and over the island’s west near Havana on Sunday night or Monday.In Florida, Miami-Dade and Broward counties are already on high alert. The opening school set for Monday will go as scheduled, but with a close watch on Fay. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has already declared a state of emergency and forecasters have predicted Fay will bring hurricane-force winds to the Florida Keys as early as Monday.Also see: Robert Manuel’s rejection: A second blow to René Préval A vote 51-35 derailed Preval’s effort to install new Prime Minister High Noon for René Préval in HaitiRene Prevsl takes officeHaiti: the lies will never endWill Haiti Ever Regain Its Sanity?Will Haiti ever achieve responsible governance?

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