| CNN | - |
Are
you in the path of the storm? Please share images with CNN if it is
safe to do so. (CNN) The physical damage to Dominica is worse than first
thought and the emotional toll from Tropical Storm Erika, which killed
at least 20 people on the tiny ...
Tropical Storm Erika dumps rain on Hispaniola after killing 20 in Dominica
Story highlights
- Dominica PM says 20 people are dead, millions of dollars of property destroyed
- Tropical Storm Erika was soaking Haiti, Dominican Republic with rain Friday night
- Florida Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency in preparation for storm
Are you in the path of the storm? Please share images with CNN if it is safe to do so.
(CNN)The
physical damage to Dominica is worse than first thought and the
emotional toll from Tropical Storm Erika, which killed at least 20
people on the tiny Caribbean island, is substantial, the nation's Prime
Minister said Friday night.
"Rest
assured, my brothers and sisters, you are not alone in your period of
mourning in your period of pain, in your period of suffering and
anxiety," Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit told the nation. "We are in
this together and help is coming your way."
The
storm has passed and was assaulting the Dominican Republic and Haiti on
Friday night. It left behind swamped villages, eroded away roads and
washed-away homes.
Some people were still missing, Skerrit said.
The
Prime Minister, who was in Saint Lucia when the storm first hit,
deflected criticism that the government didn't issue proper warnings to
its 70,000 citizens.
"There is no need
to indulge in blaming others for what has happened in Dominica," he
told the nation. He said forecasters had been focused on the larger
islands in the Caribbean and Florida.
Dominica was deluged by 12 inches of rain in fewer than 10 hours, CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said.
Trisha Scotland said the storm damage is the worst she's seen in her lifetime.
Scotland walked 6 miles from her home in Jimmit to the capital, Roseau, to check on her mother's business, photographing the devastation along the way.
"I've
experienced at least six to seven hurricanes. I'm not even counting the
storms. I'm not even counting the depressions," Scotland said.
Skerrit expressed particular concern for Petite Savanne, a community hit by mudslides that rescuers haven't been able to reach.
Authorities
are focusing on search-and-rescue efforts, with other countries in the
region providing helicopters and other assistance.
Skerrit
said the task of repairing Dominica's "dramatically affected"
infrastructure would come later, estimating the cost would run into tens
of millions of dollars and would set the country back two decades.
"Usually
you have damage in one particular area, but this time around it is
island-wide," Scotland said. "It is a difficult challenge ahead for
Dominica."
A 'disorganized' storm
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency as the storm heads toward his state.
"We
don't know how much land it's going to go over," Scott said at a news
conference Friday. "We don't know how much water we're going to get."
The
governor told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that flooding is his biggest concern
-- particularly in the Tampa area, which is already saturated from
storms a couple of weeks ago.
As of 8 p.m. Friday,
Erika was about 25 miles southeast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, according
to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Haiti and the Dominican Republic
were getting heavy rain, the hurricane center said.
The
storm was expected to produce rainfall of 3 to 6 inches -- with a
maximum of 10 inches possible -- across the Dominican Republic, Haiti,
the Turks and Caicos Islands, eastern Cuba and the southeast Bahamas
through Saturday.
The hurricane center said the rain could cause "life-threatening flash floods and mudslides."
Erika is expected to become a tropical depression then strengthen to a tropical storm as it approaches South Florida.
The
latest forecast track has it passing over Cuba then skirting the
western coast of Florida on Sunday and Monday before the center makes
landfall on Monday afternoon. Erika is expected to become a tropical
depression as it moves over central Florida and heads into Georgia.
Erika's track has been particularly hard to predict, CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray said.
"It's
been very disorganized, so models have had a hard time getting a handle
on where exactly this storm is going to go," she said.
The 5 p.m. update from the hurricane center brought another modification in the storm's predicted path.
"The track has changed a little bit. There's still a lot of uncertainty in this storm," Gray said.
The storm is expected to weaken Friday evening, the hurricane center said,
with little change in strength through Saturday night. After it hits
warm ocean water between Cuba and Florida, it should intensify. But,
during that time it could also dissipate, CNN senior meteorologist Dave
Hennen said.
Still the U.S. Coast Guard
warned boaters and cargo ships in Key West on Friday to prepare for the
possibility of sustained gale-force winds within 48 hours.
Storm warning from Hispaniola to the Bahamas
Before the storm reaches Florida, it's expected to affect much of the Caribbean.
The
tropical storm warning in place includes islands from Hispaniola to the
portions of the Bahamas. Cuba's government issued a tropical storm
watch for some provinces Friday morning, according to the hurricane
center.
Erika's maximum sustained winds
were 45 mph, with higher gusts, the forecasting center said Friday
night. Tropical storm-force winds extended outward up to 140 miles from
the storm's center, it said.
But the rain from the storm could be the bigger concern for those in Erika's path.
"This is going to be a rainmaker," CNN's Myers said. "It's not going to be a wind-maker that blows every building down."
'Erika has wreaked havoc'
Skerrit, Dominica's Prime Minister, posted photos on his Facebook page
of roads washed away by muddy floodwaters and a video of a raging river
spilling over its banks and swamping cars in a built-up area.
Natalie John, chief executive officer of Dreamy Weddings & Tours Inc., said her staff and friends in Dominica "aren't doing so well."
"Erika has wreaked havoc there," said John, who lives farther north on the island of St. Kitts.
An employee on Dominica told her that a friend's family was missing after their house was swept away, she said.
At
least one of Dominica's airports was badly damaged. Photos of
Douglas-Charles Airport on the Prime Minister's Facebook page showed a
flooded runway and a small plane with water up to its doors.
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