HTH -- Haiti Earthquake

June 7, 2011. Severe rain causes flooding in Caribbean

SOURCE: Altegrity Risk International

Several days of heavy rain caused rising rivers on June 6th across much of the Caribbean, destroying houses, setting off landslides and forcing thousands of people to leave their homes. The storm has been blamed for the deaths of four people in the region. There were reports of severe flooding in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica from a low pressure system that lingered south of Jamaica for five days before moving west. In the capital of the Dominican Republic, authorities evacuated more than 4,000 people, and at least a dozen homes were destroyed by flood waters from the Licey River. In Haiti, more than 200 people sought shelter after a lake on the country's border with the Dominican Republic burst its banks over the weekend. There have also been reports of extensive flooding in downtown Les Cayes, a city along Haiti's southwestern coast. Emergency teams in southeastern and eastern Jamaica have been trying to rescue some 50 people trapped by rising flood waters as roads were blocked by high waters in at least four parishes in the country.