PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Haitians are already experiencing food and fuel shortages and prices are soaring. In Port-au-Prince, drivers and entrepreneurs who rely on generators for power are forced to wait in long lines for gas.
The impoverished country has yet to adjust to the end of the supply deal with Venezuela last year and to this year's suspension of Novum Energy Trading Corp's gas shipments due to overdue payments.
Amid the economic and political crisis, the possibility of Tropical Storm Dorian's impact this week frightens those who are already struggling in impoverished areas. Rain increases the risk of deadly mudslides.
The Hurricane National Center issued a hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning for the Dominican Republic. Meteorologists expect the storm to affect the Caribbean country on Thursday from Isla Saona at the southern tip to Samaná, a province in the northeast.
After causing power outages in Barbados and St. Lucia, Dorian was dumping between 3 to 6 inches of rain in the Windward islands on Tuesday.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said it was forecast to strengthen in the Caribbean Sea before affecting Puerto Rico on Wednesday night.
After affecting the island of Hispaniola, the storm will impact the Turks and Caicos Islands on Friday, and the Bahamas and the Miami and Fort Lauderdale areas on Saturday and early Sunday morning.