Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Monday 9 July 2018

Tropical Storm Beryl speeding toward eastern Caribbean

By DANICA COTO exander told The Associat- ported at grocery stores on
Associated Press ed Press that officials were several islands as people
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) worried about those still liv- shopped for food and wa-
— Gusty winds began to hit ing with tarps on their roofs ter.
the eastern Caribbean on after Maria slammed into “We can’t take chances
Sunday as Tropical Storm Dominica as a Category 5 with weather,” Jeffrey Xavi-
Beryl advanced rapidly to- storm last year, killing doz- er, manager of Mr. Clean
ward a region struggling ens of people. Bed & Breakfast in Domi-
to recover from last year’s “We are in a vulnerable nica, said in a phone inter-
deadly hurricanes. state,” he said. “The system view. “There was a lot of
The government of Domini- can still cause a lot of dam- buying.”
ca said it would shut down age regardless of whether Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo
its water system and Puerto it’s a tropical storm or a hur- Rossello said in a press
Rico’s governor warned of ricane.” conference late Saturday
likely new power outages. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm that the island could ex-
People on islands across Chris formed off the Caro- perience power outages
the region stocked up on linas, and the U.S. National and urged people without
food and water and pre- Hurricane Center said it sturdy roofs to move in with
pared for possible damag- was likely to grow into a hur- relatives or a government
ing winds, rains and waves. ricane while heading to the shelter. More than 1,500
Intermittent rainstorms al- northeast, roughly parallel power customers remain
ready were hitting Domi- to the coast. It wasn’t pro- in the dark more than nine
nica early Sunday, and In this GOES-16 satellite image taken Sunday, July 8, 2018, at jected to directly threaten months after Maria, and
the U.S. National Hurricane 15:00 UTC, shows Tropical Storm Beryl, moving across the Lesser land over the next few some 60,000 people still
Center said 2 to 3 inches Antilles in the eastern Caribbean Sea. days, though forecasters have only tarps for roofs.
(5 to 7.5 centimeters) of Associated Press said it could kick up dan- “I’m praying for all the
rain could fall as the storm ple to store water because stay alert despite the storm gerous surf and rip tides. brothers who are still living
moves through or near the the government would be weakening. “They should In the Caribbean, a tropi- under a plastic roof,” said
island on Sunday night. shutting down the water not let their guard down,” cal storm warning was up 79-year-old Alfonso Lugo
Dominica Prime Minister system as a precaution, he said. on Guadeloupe and Domi- in the southeastern Puerto
Roosevelt Skerrit told peo- and he warned them to Meteorologist Marshall Al- nica and long lines were re- Rico town of Humacao. q
Nicaragua’s Ortega nixes early election as crisis solution

By LUIS MANUEL GALEANO cause of the whim of a since the onset of protests his last public appearance,
Associated Press group of coup mongers.” in April. However human on May 30. He spoke to a
MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) He said protesters who are rights groups say most of crowd of supporters and
— President Daniel Ortega demanding he leave office the dead are young pro- government workers at a
has rejected calls for early should “seek the vote of testers killed by police and “march for peace” in the
elections as a solution to Ni- the people” if they want to often-armed civilian groups capital, Managua.
caragua’s political crisis in govern and must respect allied to Ortega’s Sandini- The event was held in place
which more than 250 peo- that his current term runs sta political movement. of a traditional march in
ple have been killed amid through 2021. Government opponents at the city of Masaya that
a heavy-handed crack- “We will see if the people the mostly student-led pro- has been celebrated for 38
down on protests. will give the vote to the tests accuse Ortega of try- straight years to commem-
Speaking late Saturday in coup mongers who have ing to install a dictatorship orate Sandinista resistance
Nicaraguan President Daniel his first public appearance provoked so much destruc- characterized by corrup- to the former Somoza dic-
Ortega waves to a crowd of in over a month, Ortega tion in recent weeks,” Orte- tion and nepotism along tatorship. The march was
party faithful during a march said the Central Ameri- ga said. “There will be time with first lady and Vice Pres- called off this year because
for peace, in Managua, can country’s constitution for elections.” The president ident Rosario Murillo. much of the city is in open
Nicaragua, Saturday, July 7, sets rules that “cannot be also blamed those who Ortega appeared notice- rebellion against Ortega’s
2018.
Associated Press changed overnight be- oppose him for the killings ably thinner than he did in government.q