A broad low pressure area (bad weather) located west of the caribbean arc and South of Porto Rico promises to affect all the Greater Antilles including Haiti in particular.

Although the system is still disorganized, heavy rain, severe thunderstorms and strong gales could affect Haiti from Sunday night until Tuesday morning. The departments that will be most concerned are: Sud-Est, Sud, les Nippes and the Grand'anse then Ouest, the Centre and other departments.

In anticipation, the Permanent Secretariat of Risk Management and Disaster (Secrétariat Permanent de Gestion des Risques et des Désastres SPGRD) has issued this Saturday, September 11, 2010 at 10:00 am the first orange alert bulletin (impact risk, moderate to severe) vis-a-vis the threats of strong rains, gusty winds and thunderstorms with rivers flood risk, crumblings, mudslides and floods of moderate intensity for the departments of Sud, Sud-Est, Nippes, the Grand Anse, Ouest, Centre, Artibonite and other departments.

The National Meteorological Center (Centre National de Météorologie CNM) in conjunction with the SPGRD and the Directorate of Civil Protection (Direction de la Protection Civile DPC) ask particularly to the people living in the risk zone of flooding to remain vigilant and strictly implement the following safety precautions in case of flooding, landslides, landslides and severe thunderstorms (lightning and thunder).

• Stay tuned to weather reports and follow authorities instructions.

• Watch the rising waters. If your home is threatened by floods and landslides, prepare to evacuate.

• Do not cross rivers in spate for any reason.

• In case of severe thunderstorms, do not shelter near windows and in the woodlands.

  HL/ HaitiLibre