Tropical Storm Olga causes many deaths in Caribbean
Saturday, December 15, 2007
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The death toll for Tropical Storm Olga reached 38 on Friday. The rare December tropical storm, which disintegrated into a mass of thunderstorms late on Wednesday, killed two people, a woman and a 3-year-old boy, in Haiti. In the Dominican Republic, 12 Hatians drowned. Olga's torrential rains were also blamed for mudslides that killed a man in Puerto Rico. 4,000 hetchacres of crops and $40 million in revenues have been destroyed. The highest winds recorded were 60 miles per hour. This storm was the fifteenth in the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season.
On December 10, the Tropical Prediction Center issued a gale warning for waters north of the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic, in association with the precursor disturbance to Olga. Upon it being classified as a subtropical cyclone, the government of the Dominican Republic issued a tropical storm warning from Cabo Engaño along the north coast to its border with Haiti; a tropical storm watch was also issued along the southern coastline to near Santo Domingo. Because winds were well to the north of its center, a tropical storm warning was not issued for Puerto Rico. Prior to it moving ashore, the government of Haiti issued a tropical storm warning for its northern coastline, and later a tropical storm warning was issued for the Turks and Caicos Islands, as well as the southeastern Bahamas.
Sources
- AP. "Dominican officials say Tropical Storm Olga causes major crop losses" — International Herald Tribune, December 15, 2007
- Manuel Jimenez. "Tropical Storm Olga kills 38 in Caribbean" — Reuters, December 14, 2007
