Tropical Storm Franklin causes torrential rain in Dominican Republic and Haiti

Authorities in the Dominican Republic shut schools and government offices Tuesday as Tropical Storm Franklin took aim at the island of Hispaniola that it shares with Haiti and threatened to unleash landslides and heavy floods.
The storm was expected to make landfall on the island Wednesday and drop up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain in both countries, with up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) in isolated areas. Heavy rainfall is of great concern to Haiti, where severe erosion in many places can lead to catastrophic flooding.
Dominican officials announced the closures of schools, government offices and businesses until Thursday. It also planned to close its main international airport and five others through Wednesday. In Haiti, where a day of heavy rain from a thunderstorm in June left more than 40 people dead, government officials urged caution but did not announce closures, though schools are already shuttered for summer holiday until mid-September.
In the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo, 42-year-old mechanic Pedro Julio de la Cruz said he and his family were mulling whether to stay with relatives who live on higher ground since he and his elderly mother and aunt live near the Ozama River in a community that floods often.
The storm late Tuesday was located about 200 miles (320 kilometers) south-southwest of Santo Domingo. It had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and was moving northwest at 6 mph (9 kph).
Franklin had lost speed and was disorganized, and could linger on top of Hispaniola for much of Wednesday before exiting to open water late in the day, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
At least 24 of the Dominican Republic’s 31 provinces were under red alert as the storm approached, with the Public Works Ministry announcing that it dispatched 3,000 workers to more than a dozen provinces to prepare for Franklin. However, the government said the heavy rainfall forecast would not be a problem for the country’s multiple dams since water levels were low.