• By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
• Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:52:51 +0100 (BST)

• By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
• Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2011 09:37:13 -0400

• By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
• Date: Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:24:21 -0400

• By gaquiles at gmail.com
• Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:00:45 +0000

Good afternoon.

Rain continues to affect negatively several parts of our country, I am flooded 
with news I don't know where to start, certainly I can not segregate them now 
as I am away from my desk or my home.

Highlights:

1) 32,500 people are away from their homes.

2) The high tide penetrated about 1 Km in Nagua, in the province of Maria 
Trinidad Sanchez.

3) Some towns are incomunicated by overflowed rivers.

4) Highway damaged between La Romana and La Altagracia provinces, only way to 
get there is via El Seibo. 

Breaking news right now: Haina river is overflowed and is causing trouble near 
manoguayabo, just at the west of Distrito Nacional.

Las Americas had 50 cancelled flights in total due to weather issues caused by 
Irene.


However, most of the capital didn't noticed much trouble as rain hasn't being 
and issue in Metro area, but today we have gotten more rain than any before 
since Irene on Monday (in Santo Domingo city).

I hope this gets over quickly.

Stay tuned...
---
Guillermo A. Serra
Enviado desde mi dispositivo BlackBerry® de Claro Dominicana

• By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
• Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:58:45 +0100 (BST)

• By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
• Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:02:19 +0100 (BST)

• By Mike Bryant <puntacanamike at gmail.com>
• Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 07:01:46 -0400

Good morning from Punta Cana

Well...the frogs are loving the conditions overnight. The rain has been basically non stop and very heavy at times.I imagine the local rivers are at capacity and that the areas prone to flooding are knee deep. This flooding is due to improper drainage when building roads here...the water simply has no place to go!

I expect that this will continue through the day with gradual improvement as the day wears on...but then again...who knows!

• By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
• Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 06:42:40 -0400

• By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
• Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 06:36:15 +0100 (BST)

• By "kurt van opstal" <funbug at fun-buggy.com>
• Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 22:22:25 -0300

• By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
• Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 02:49:53 +0100 (BST)

• By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
• Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 20:35:37 -0400

• By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
• Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 01:05:08 +0100 (BST)

• By David Young <dsyoung23 at hotmail.com>
• Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:22:59 -0500

• By David Young <dsyoung23 at hotmail.com>
• Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:16:09 -0500

• By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
• Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:36:13 -0400

• By "kurt van opstal" <funbug at fun-buggy.com>
• Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:16:17 -0300

• By gaquiles at gmail.com
• Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:56:03 +0000

Good morning!

So there are some good news for us in the south coast, the forecasts have 
changed dramatically for what where Irene would make landfall but as for now, 
it seems the eye of the storm will "scratch" or even pass near the north coast, 
hope it stays over the water.

I am in the vicinity of Distrito Nacional, to the north, over here there are no 
tall buildings, I got an excellent view (I will post a picture) to Monte Plata 
province, which is very rural, the wind the sustained winds are not normal at 
all, is very breeze right now, we have gotten a few drops of rain and the sun 
is trying hard to shine. I can tell wind is coming from the north as birds are 
trying to flight that direction but the wind is pushing them back.

As for satellites images, La Altagracia (where popular destinations include 
Punta Cana and Bávaro are located) might be getting heavy rains right now.

Classes are suspended, have not heard of canceled flights in Las Americas Intl. 
but no doubt many will no board flights in the afternoon as we are under severe 
weather warning from 12pm and for sure there are canceled flights to/from 
Puerto Rico.

I am working right now but will leave soon to get few supplies and get home 
safely for the rest of the day.

Stay tuned...

  
---
Guillermo A. Serra
Enviado desde mi dispositivo BlackBerry® de Claro Dominicana

Attachment: IMG-20110822-00381.jpg
Description: JPEG image

• By Mike Bryant <puntacanamike at gmail.com>
• Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 07:28:37 -0400

• By "kurt van opstal" <funbug at fun-buggy.com>
• Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 01:32:23 -0300

• By Mike Bryant <puntacanamike at gmail.com>
• Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2011 15:26:38 -0500

• By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
• Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2011 14:07:52 -0400

Good afternoon!

The forecast has changed rapidly and now Irene is predicted to cut in
half the island of Hispaniola, meanwhile it is Sunday here and nobody
listen to news on Sunday (at least I'm not because local channels are
so empty on Sunday's) but I'm sure local authorities are taking act,
I'm getting all the information I need from ONAMET and COE thru
twitter.

Meanwhile half country is under COE's red alert and the other under
yellow alert, and Dominicans are like nothing Bad is going to happen,
at least in my neighborhood everybody is like another typical Sunday.

I'm about to go to my dad's apartment to help him tie things up
because he lives in an 9th floor. I'll try to give more updates later
but currently the weather here is lovely.

One more thing, I remember Emily and how things got a little bit wild,
at least for me. COE evacuated a lot of people and nothing really
happened not even that much rain, so the question is, given the fast
development of Irene and the weekend effect and a recent previous
false alarm (but good prevention) will people trust again in the
authorities? Let's see how things unfold during the afternoon.

Stay tuned...

--
Enviado desde mi iPod

• By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
• Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2011 17:49:26 +0100 (BST)

• By Mountainfrog <mountainfrog at hughes.net>
• Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2011 11:23:54 -0400

NHC finally changed its forecast track which now correlates with
what we have been seeing on satellites pictures for some time...
The centre of IRENE seems to be much more north than
assumed earlier and will thus hardly pass over the southern
part of the island. I for one even see her passing by north of us,
but very close.
Time to put up the storm shutters and prepare for heavy rain.

Saludos desde Samaná
mountainfrog

• By Darlene Gunter <consultantdr at gmail.com>
• Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2011 09:18:06 -0400

• By Mike Bryant <puntacanamike at gmail.com>
• Date: Sat, 20 Aug 2011 23:52:36 -0400

As always, we keep an eye on approaching systems regardless of size. Forecast models have been vague at best this year and last, seldom being accurate beyond 24 hours. The outer bands of the system are likely to start effecting our local weather tomorrow and increased cloudiness and winds can be expected...currently about 220 miles east and closing at a rate of 22mph...thus about 10 hours away.

Current forecasts as of 11pm put us at a medium risk (50%) of encountering tropical storm force winds, which in honesty...are not much of a concern. Rainfall is always the bigger issue and being on the north quadrant of the circulation, we are likely to see some periods of heavier precip over the next 36 hours. By Monday, the current forecast model puts Irene as a hurricane passing approx 90 miles to our south as it plows along over open waters...although that can obviously change. Tomorrow morning we should have a better idea.

Tonight...clear skies and a calm breeze.

• By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
• Date: Sat, 20 Aug 2011 22:53:55 -0400

• By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
• Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:05:18 -0400

• By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
• Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2011 12:01:43 -0400

• By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
• Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2011 21:04:19 +0100 (BST)

• By "Guillermo A. Serra" <gaquiles at gmail.com>
• Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2011 14:22:30 -0400

• By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
• Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2011 14:05:36 +0100 (BST)

• By Mountainfrog <mountainfrog at hughes.net>
• Date: Thu, 04 Aug 2011 07:39:58 -0400

Good morning,
We had rain on and off during the night and a gusty wind
(up to 30 knots) from the SSE on our hillside location.
This morning now we still have some occasional gusts but the sky
is broken with blue spots and we hope to see the sun later in the day.
Looking at the satellite pictures we suppose there is much more wind and
rain in the SW and we consider ourselves very lucky that Emily
did not strengthen and thus take the usual NWern path.
Greetings from Samaná
________________________
www.dr101.info

• By Mike Bryant <puntacanamike at gmail.com>
• Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2011 06:35:57 -0500

I guess I have a cupboard full of food for the next week, as Emily
turned into a blind date...meaning we did not see her at all.
Yesterday started with a swim in the pool under sunshine skies and a
moderately gusty windfield. By noon, we had gone for ice cream and
then onward to Cabeza del Toro for some birthday lunch. Clothes were
drying in the breeze, but generally a high overcast. By late
afternoon, next to no wind and light showers. Of course I was not up
all night, but by the look of the pool (which overflows easy in a good
rain), it did not rain much overnight. Right now...winds calm, skies
gray and rain is falling at a romantic rate.

Like many, I got hyped up about this system and I think once more it
only goes to show...that we can have super computers and micro
analyzers and fly planes in and out...charts and graphics up the
yingyang...but the truth be known...we seldom get it right...at least
for this neck of the woods. Within the past week, we were supposed to
get a Cat 2 hurricane, a Cat 1, a TS, .....and likely everything else
aside from a snowstorm. I think I will make my own forecasts...they
can't be any more off than what all the "experts" have been on this
one...as well as others.
Cheers

Mike

Punta Cana Mike's Dominican Adventure
Reality Tours for People Just Like You
829 981 7989

www.freewebs.com/puntacanamike

• By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
• Date: Wed, 3 Aug 2011 21:05:11 -0400

Good evening again!

It's being a quite afternoon here, with no rain, quite strange because looking 
at the satellite pictures we have some cold clouds above our heads, but that is 
good news!

A lot of events were cancelled, some other not, people are squeezing in lines 
for the premiere of Harry Potter in our country, others like me went back home 
earlier from work and stood quite in the house, we didn't even went to the 
supermarket to stack up, we had enough food though, and I always buy packages 
of bottled water, so no big deal.

My mom is super happy because she said her prayers and her community prayers 
were heard, until this morning Emily seemed to be aiming right to us, but now 
she is not even touching the Dominican side of Hispaniola (La Española), great.

However all the convention is located way to the east of the system, and 
meteorologists are struggling to find excuses and explanations, either to tell 
why she hasn't turn to a northern track or why she is so disorganized, but 
science behind forecasts isn't perfect, in the end, mother nature is the rule 
and we humans are.... somos insignificante al lado de 'ella'.

I must confess I let myself carried away with all this predictions, and I 
really want to close this case, but until she clears the way (all the clouds 
and stuff she is dragging) I must stay alert, I mean, look at the puerto 
ricans, our neighboors, it has being raining even as the system has passed away 
already for them.

Until tomorrow, stay tuned...

---
Guillermo A. Serra
Santo Domingo, R. D.

• By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
• Date: Wed, 3 Aug 2011 18:12:45 -0400

• By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
• Date: Wed, 3 Aug 2011 11:37:15 -0400

• By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
• Date: Wed, 3 Aug 2011 07:08:08 -0400

Good morning!

It is a beautiful morning over Santo Domingo city, I thought we were going to 
take some showers or wind during the night but either that did not happen or I 
was deep sleeping. Now I am getting ready to work, but probably will get home 
early as I work on a construction.

We will take this day to take all necessary precautions so the site stays safe 
and for our neighbors.

People here are in "relative" calmness, as if no storm will make a landfall, 
that might change today, we are expecting a hit somewhere in our southwest 
coasts tonight, the effects could be felt way earlier.

Rain will be a major issue, some areas are being evacuated, specially those 
downriver after some dams. 

Some of our public institutions are constantly tweeting with tips and measures 
being taking, if you know some Spanish and you are interested, you could read 
those tweets, here are three of them:

 at COE_RD (Centro de Operaciones de Emergencia)

 at ONAMET (Oficina Nacional de Meteorología)

 at CDEEE_RD (Corporación Dominicana de Empresas Eléctricas y Estatales)

Last, I have to express my worry about people in Haiti, seems like 
Port-Au-Prince will take the full force of this and they have not quite 
recovered yet from last year earthquake, is just not fair, not fair for us 
either, thank goodness Emily did not reach Cat-1 status.

Stay tuned...

• By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
• Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2011 12:14:42 -0400

• By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
• Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2011 06:51:35 -0400

Good morning.

Just a quick short message to express my opinion on a frequent situation that 
happens to storms on latitudes where Emily is right now, when exactly is this 
system change its track to a more northern one? Yesterday it seemed like the 
storm would impact Ocoa Bay, but now it looks like it will hit somewhere more 
to the west (Barahora or Independencia provinces).

I'll try to properly update later about where is Emily going and what are we 
doing about it.

Stay tuned...

• By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
• Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2011 22:10:53 -0400

• By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
• Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2011 14:51:30 -0400

Good afternoon!

It has being a wet July for Distrito Nacional and vicinity (Santo Domingo 
Norte), specially this last week, where you could enjoy a beautiful yet hot 
morning and right after 1 pm, the sky turns so dark that rain is imminent. 
Right now I can see thru my window the sky is so dark and thunders are slowly 
sounding even louder, but this is Caribbean, oceanic climate is the rule here, 
but thank to this, out temperatures are stable, not too hot on summers, not too 
cold on winters (max 31, low 23).

But there is something going on just east of the leeward islands, it's probably 
the next storm of the season and it is already getting our attentions, local 
authorities are starting to warn citizens about the possibility that this 
system could get pretty close to Dominican Republic in the next two days so we 
will keep a close eye to this.

Ooops! It is already raining. Haha!

Stay tuned... :)

• By Mike Bryant <puntacanamike at gmail.com>
• Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2011 13:41:12 -0500

• By Mike Bryant <puntacanamike at gmail.com>
• Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2011 06:56:59 -0500

• By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
• Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2011 03:17:31 +0100 (BST)

• By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
• Date: Mon, 4 Jul 2011 19:31:26 -0400

Good evening!

It's being raining all day long and right now Santo Domingo and
probably all our nation is under a spectacular thunderstorm. Street
and urban flooding is a major concern right now.

Stay tuned...

--
Enviado desde mi iPod

• By Mike Bryant <puntacanamike at gmail.com>
• Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2011 12:18:52 -0400

• By Mike Bryant <puntacanamike at gmail.com>
• Date: Fri, 20 May 2011 15:33:05 -0500