She was no match for our Mountains
Despite having a ‘hurricane’ season, the Dominican Republic rarely takes a direct hit. On Sep 7, 2017, The Dominican Republic dodged another bullet when Hurricane Irma came to town for a visit. Some think it’s luck, some believe it’s faith, but we know the saving grace is our mountains. The central mountain range stretches throughout the island and plays host to the highest point in all of the Caribbean, Pico Duarte (3,087m). The Cordillera Central literally split the rotating air mass of Irma in two, slowing wind speeds and pushing the bulk of water and air mass around the west side of the mountain. As the wind came from the west, it bumped into the Loma Isabel de Torres mountain which blocked Puerto Plata and other downwind areas from the strongest winds.
Hurricane Irma Quick Facts
As our regular readers know, we love to get into the details, and we quickly learned some interesting facts on Irma.
She broke some records including the most powerful storm ever recorded, leaving experts shocked.
She had two eye walls with winds in excess of 185mph at its centre and more than 100mph at the second eye wall.
Eyewitnesses even spotted tornadoes near the eye of the hurricane and left tracks where they passed through.
These unimaginably powerful winds blew for more than 65 consecutive hours, something no other tropical cyclone has done in the 50 years since records began.
At 914 millibars, Irma had one of the lowest pressures ever recorded in a storm.
She was so big and powerful, she was showing up as an earthquake on seismometers and sat at 420 miles wide!
Mother nature is pretty incredible and interesting, but also pretty intimidating.
Thank You, Mother Nature
We are grateful the mountains swiftly sent Hurricane Irma on her way. The same afternoon, we were able to begin tidying the branches and fallen trees on the property. By the next morning, most of Cabarete was back to normal. With so much beach area in front of our property, Cabarete Palm Beach Condos was virtually untouched. On day two after Irma, we took a stroll through the town to check on our neighbors and aside from some minor damages on the east side of Cabarete Bay, everything looked great. More importantly, everyone was ok and The Dominican Republic didn’t have any reported deaths.
Sending Positive Vibes To Our Caribbean Neighbours
Our heart breaks for those who weren’t so fortunate on our neighboring Caribbean islands. There are several charities on the ground distributing supplies in the affected areas. Get involved by donating to Virgin Unite BVI, and Waves For Water.
If you know of any charities collecting donations and supplies, shout them out in the comments so we can add them to our list!