PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — Haitian authorities on Saturday urged residents to prepare for tropical storm Laura, which is expected to bring torrential rains, flooding and landslides before possibly building up to hurricane force as it churns toward the US.
The Atlantic storm season, which runs through November, could be one of the busiest ever this year, with the US National Hurricane Center predicting as many as 25 named storms. Laura is the 12th so far.
“To those people living in at-risk zones, where there could be landslides or floods, be ready to evacuate if the authorities order it,” said Jerry Chandler, director of Haiti’s civil protection agency.
“We are starting to see small regional rainfalls and some wind. This will intensify by the end of the day,” he added.
The Caribbean country, which shares Hispaniola island with the Dominican Republic, has been on alert since Friday.
Laura has gained strength since early Saturday while passing southern Puerto Rico.
The US hurricane center said that while the longer-range forecast is “uncertain,” the storm could reach hurricane strength off the Florida coast early next week, after moving past Cuba and the Bahamas.
There is even a chance that a second storm, dubbed Marco, could enter the Gulf as a hurricane — the first time in recorded history that two hurricanes would be in the Gulf at the same time.
As a precaution, authorities in Haiti have banned coastal navigation until further order.
Chandler, Haiti’s civil protection head, urged people to abide by any evacuation orders: “don’t be stubborn… there are shelters in every zone with the minimum to meet your needs.”
Haiti, a country of 11 million, has seen a relatively low incidence of COVID-19 — with 8,050 cases and 196 deaths to date — but authorities urged particular caution to prevent further spread in the aftermath of Laura’s passing.
“Wear your masks and respect distances, especially in temporary shelters,” Interior Minister Audain Fils Bernadel said at the official briefing. “With COVID, we have considerably less capacity in our shelters.”
Storms pose a serious risk to Haiti every year from June to November. Even a heavy rainfall can threaten the country’s poorest residents, many of them living in at-risk zones, near canals or ravines that can be obstructed by debris and quickly overflow.
© Agence France-Presse