South Florida was put under a hurricane watch and Gov. Lawton Chiles declared a state of emergency in central and southern Florida, allowing the state to use the National Guard, lift tolls along evacuation routes and purchase emergency supplies.
Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez, in a televised address to the nation last night, confirmed the 70 dead and the missing, including 45 who disappeared when a school being used as a shelter washed away yesterday.
He said more than half the power grid in the Dominican Republic was destroyed by Georges' 110-mph winds at a cost of $111 million. Seventy percent of the country's bridges were damaged or destroyed, and 90 percent of its banana and other plantations were flattened.
Fernandez asked for unity in reconstruction efforts and urged residents "to pray and ask the Almighty to help the destiny of our people."
"We have a titanic task ahead of us," he declared.
Georges pounded the Dominican Republic on Tuesday after barreling through Puerto Rico. It struck Haiti yesterday, where 27 were reported killed, before moving on to Cuba and threatening southern Florida.
Up to 80,000 people were ordered to begin evacuating the exposed Florida Keys.
Cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles streamed along the two-lane highway linking the island chain to the Florida mainland.
At 11 p.m., Georges was centered 60 miles northwest of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and was moving west-northwest at 12 mph with 75 mph winds, down from 110 mph when the storm swept over Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
In the Dominican town of San Cristobal, the Nizao River overflowed and knocked down a part of a school used as a shelter, leaving five dead and dozens missing.
In the shanty neighborhood of La Cienega, the swollen river invaded thousands of homes, covering some up to their roofs in fetid water.
Residents swam out to their houses to retrieve their belongings, some using empty gallon water jugs tied to their arms to keep afloat.
Looters in Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital, waded waist-deep in water, balancing televisions and air conditioners on their heads Tuesday as the fierce winds toppled trees and crushed houses.
Bands of youths with machetes and pistols roamed the streets, many of them drunk.
Two of the dead were looters shot by police.
09-24-98
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