Thu | Apr 30, 2026

Irene hits Dom Rep

Published:Wednesday | August 24, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Pause
A resident rides a horse through a flooded neighbourhood after the passing of Hurricane Irene in Nagua on the northern coast of the Dominican Republic yesterday. Hundreds who were displaced by flooding were forced to take refuge in churches, schools or relatives' homes. Electricity was also cut in some areas.
A woman is carried on a stretcher by civil defence workers after she was unable to attend a respiratory therapy due to an emphysema after Hurricane Irene struck and flooded the area she lives in Naguabo, Puerto Rico, on Monday.
1
2

PORT-AU-PRINCE (CMC):

Hurricane Irene, with winds of 100 miles per hour, lashed the northern coast of the Dominican Republic yesterday, as Haitians prepared themselves for the imminent landing of the first hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season.

A hurricane watch is in effect for the northern coast of Haiti from Le Mole St Nicholas eastward to the border, while the Turks and Caicos Islands, The Bahamas and the rest of Haiti are under hurricane warning.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said that the Category Two hurricane could intensify with winds in excess of 115 mph.

Haitian authorities have issued a 'red alert' for the entire country, although the hurricane is expected to hit hardest along the country's north coast, according to information released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

OCHA said together with the UN Peacekeeping mission (MINUSTAH), it has activated an emergency joint response centre and an expanded joint operation centre.

The UN is helping authorities and the International Organisation for Migration with a public-awareness campaign focused on highly populated areas and on markets.