Bridge collapses in Dominican Republic as Tropical Storm Franklin crosses Hispaniola

At least one bridge has collapsed in the Dominican Republic, where Tropical Storm Franklin made landfall early Wednesday on the island of Hispaniola that the country shares with Haiti.

The bridge is in the city of Higüey, in the province of La Altagracia. At the time of the collapse, the storm was within 21 miles of the city of Barahona in the Dominican Republic, which has most of its provinces under high alert for flooding and landslides. Haiti is also bracing for the impact of the weather system’s heavy rains and winds.

Franklin was expected to be over the island most of the day Wednesday. Residents were warned they could see as much as 15 inches of rain in some areas. Some neighborhoods in the capital of Santo Domingo were seeing flooding, leading residents to bail gushing water out of their homes. In Villa Mella, residents living in the Los Cocos community reported that a ravine had overflowed, making parts of the area impassable.

As peope bathed in flood waters in the Dominican Republic, in Haiti several regions continued to see torrential downpours that were expected to continue throughout the evening.

On Wednesday morning, the storm was crossing the eastern part of Haiti at about 11 miles per hour just southeast of the city of Jacmel, Haiti’s Office of Civil Protection said. Franklin is expected to later hit the northeast region of Haiti. During its passage the storm will bring strong wind and rains to several regions of Haiti, including the south, central, Artibonite, west and northeast.

Emergency and disaster response officials in both the Dominican Republic and Haiti are continuing calls for people to remain vigilant, especially those who live in areas at risk of flash floods and mudslides. They are also warned residents not to attempt to cross rivers or ravines.

Juan Manuel Méndez, the director of the Dominican Republic’s Emergency Operations Center, announced that they had placed 24 provinces plus the district of Santo Domingo, the capital, under a red alert, while seven others are yellow, meaning they could see low to moderate flooding as Franklin passes. A yellow alert remains for all of Haiti, but officials have warned that could quickly change.

Florencia Soto Nino, associate spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, said the U.N. is working with national and regional partners, including the Caribbean Emergency Disaster Management Agency, to prepare for potential impacts of the storm.

“The Haiti Civil Protection agency has disseminated precautionary messages to the population and we are mapping available stocks and resources with our partners, and have also pre-positioned shelter materials in several areas in the country, especially the ones that are expected to be hit the most,” she said. “However, our colleagues are also warning that insecurity in regions affected by gang violence might create access challenges.”

The U.N. World Food Program said its emergency response teams in both countries are preparing food supplies and assistance for vulnerable communities in the storm’s path. The agency said it had also had pre-positioned 120 metric tones of food in a newly constructed operations base in Miragone, just south of Haiti’s capital.