Yesterday I spent all day watching Tropical Storm Emily’s progress on every possible channel; weather.com, nhc.noaa.gov, stormpulse.com and of course on Facebook and despite the fact that every single source indicated that she wouldn’t be ariving until Wednesday (tonight/today) – I still expected to be woken up in the night with driving rain and howling winds! The reality – nothing, nothing at all! No rain, no wind, just a little sunshine – that was, it seems the ‘calm before the storm’ and now with the arrival of Tropical Storm Emily impending its already raining rather heavily!
So where is Tropical Storm Emily? Tropical Storm Emily is hovering around to the South-East of the Dominican Republic about 120 miles away from Santo Domingo and is I must say, being very Caribbean (laid-back) about her arrival, she is currently meandering around at about 14mph and is due to arrive in the Dominican Republic later today or tonight! Despite the fact that Emily herself has yet to arrive, it seems that she has sent an advance party of clouds, which are already producing heavy rain and winds.
As the first major storm to affect the Dominican Republic this hurricane season, Tropical Storm Emily is understandably causing rather a lot or concern, so here is a quick summary of everything I’ve learnt through extensive (and slightly obsessive) research from both Dominican and American media channels.
Red Alert! As can be seen from the below image, the entire South coast of the Dominican Republic had been put on ‘Red Alert’ in anticipation of the arrival of Tropical Storm Emily. The main concern is for people who live close to water, namely rivers, which given the large quantity of rain expected over the next 24 hours will be likely to flood, there is also a risk of flash flooding and landslides. This should not be of affect anyone in Casa de Campo or for anyone who has a villa in Casa de Campo – of course there will be a lot of rain and wind here as there will be in the rest of the country, but as long as residents and visitors in Casa de Campo stay indoors they are in no danger.
About Emily • Emily is Tropical Storm not a hurricane. A Tropical Storm is one class below a hurricane.
• Emily has maximun sustained winds of 85kmh
• Although her projected track will cut across the West of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, much of the remaining storm will cut across the rest of the Dominican Republic, bringing with it heavy rains and wind
• The Dominican Republic’s mountainous terrain is expected to break up some of Emily’s formation, which will hopefully cause her to leave the Dominican Republic as a less organized and weaker storm. However, it is also possible that as she travels North to the United States she may regain strength and even become a hurricane.
• Emily continues to move in a North Western direction at a speed of 14mph
The Weather Outlook TODAY (Wednesday): RAIN, thunder storms and strong gusts of wind
Tomorrow (Thursday): RAIN, thunder storms and strong gusts of wind
Tropical Storm Emily – what to expect? • rain
• wind ( a Tropical Storm has maximum sustained winds between 56km/h and 102km/h – Emily is expected to hit the Dominican Republic with maximum sustained winds of nearly 85km/h)
• flooding (in recent times the Chavón river flooded and last year the river in La Romana also flooded)
• leaky roofs
• flash floods
• mudslides
• limited damage to wooden and/or fragile buildings and roads
How should you prepare? • prepare your home by bringing any outdoor furniture inside
• ensure all windows, doors and shutters are closed
• if your Casa de Campo villa is built with ‘open air’ areas – put down towels around this area to soak up any extra water
• put down towels around patio doors and windows – windows that do not normally leak may start to leak when faced with driving winds and rain
• if you Casa de Campo villa is old it may have some leaks – if that is the case, move any furniture away from that area and place buckets to catch any dripping
• stay indoors and don’t travel! The roads and facilities within Casa de Campo are excellent and will be able to withstand a storm of this scale without problem, however outside of the Casa de Campo resort any traveller may encounter problems.
• cancel any plans to go out!
The calm before the storm – this photo was taken at 7am this morning.
This article was written by Rebecca Hughes, editor of Casa de Campo Living and Casa de Campo’s entertainment specialist!
Rebecca Hughes, Editorial and Events Marketing
rhughes@casadecampoliving.com
TEL: 809-523-2045 CEL: 809-949-8906
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Altos de Chavón, Casa de Campo
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