SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) – Tropical Storm Erika was losing its punch as it drenched Haiti and the Dominican Republic early Saturday, but it left devastation in its path, killing at least 20 people and leaving another 31 missing on the small eastern Caribbean island of Dominica, authorities said.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said that mountains and an unfavorable environment would likely knock Erika below tropical storm force, though there’s a small chance it could recover as it moves along Cuba and then approaches Florida late Sunday.
Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said in a televised address late Friday that damage inflicted by the storm set the island back 20 years. Some 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain fell on the mountainous island.
“The extent of the devastation is monumental. It is far worse than expected,” he said, adding that hundreds of homes, bridges and roads have been destroyed. “We have, in essence, to rebuild Dominica.”
At least 31 people have been reported missing, according to officials with the Barbados-based Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency.