HAVANA, Oct 31 (AFP): At least 43 people were killed in floods and landslides triggered by Tropical Storm Noel as it struck Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and tore across Cuba Wednesday.
After drenching Hispaniola, an island shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti, Noel late Tuesday moved slowly across the Cuban interior.
It left at least 30 people dead and 15 reported missing in the Dominican Republic, and threatened to cause more floods and mudslides across the region, already drenched by weeks of rainfall.
The Dominican Republic's National Emergency Committee said nearly 20,000 people had to evacuate their homes across the country.
There were at least 13 storm-related deaths in Haiti, including a 14-year old girl and her mother who witnesses said were killed when an uprooted tree crushed their house in the capital.
Authorities in the impoverished and vulnerable Caribbean nation evacuated 3,000 people from their homes.
Heavy rain swept away and destroyed homes in three departments, said Marie Alta Jean Baptiste, head of the country's civil protection agency.
The storm caused authorities in the Dominican Republic and Haiti to shut down airports.
Haitian Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis said 1.5 million dollars had been set aside to assist storm victims.
43 killed as Noel rages across Caribbean
FE Team | Published: November 01, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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