Tropical storm claims at least 20 lives in Caribbean Island

Another four people died in Haiti in a traffic accident that apparently occurred in the rain. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said that mountains and an unfavorable environment would likely knock Erika below tropical storm force, though there had been a small chance it could recover as it moved along Cuba and then approached Florida late Sunday. By early Saturday, the center said the storm appeared to be dissipating. 

Dominica PM Roosevelt Skerrit said in a televised address late Friday that damage inflicted by the storm set the island back 20 years. Some 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain fell on the mountainous island. “The extent of the devastation is monumental. It is far worse than expected,’’ he said, adding that hundreds of homes, bridges and roads have been destroyed. ``We have, in essence, to rebuild Dominica.’’ 

At least 31 people have been reported missing, according to officials with the Barbados-based Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency. The island’s airports remained closed, and some communities remained isolated by flooding and landslides. Skerrit asked people to share their resources with each other as foreign aid trickled in. “This is a period of national tragedy,’’ he said. “Floods swamped villages, destroyed homes and wiped out roads. Some communities are no longer recognisable.’’