Rain from storm causes rivers to surge in Dominican Republic
MIAMI- Rivers surged across a large section of the Dominican Republic on Thursday as a broad area of low pressure headed east to the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas, officials said.
The US National Hurricane Center in Miami said the system's strongest winds were below tropical storm strength but that it could strengthen as it approaches Florida and the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend.
Nearly 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain fell in the Dominican Republic and 19 of its 32 provinces were on alert as rivers rose rapidly and flooding was expected, said Francisco Olguin, a spokesman for the Dominican meteorological office.
