Go Back
  • For Business
  • |
  • Warnings
  • Data Suite
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising
  • Superior Accuracy™
Flash flood threat to continue in central Texas into midweek. Get details Chevron right
A father died saving his family, camp counselors lost their lives saving children; read their stories Chevron right

Columbus, OH

90°F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Columbus

Ohio

90°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Columbus, OH Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

For Business

Warnings

Data Suite

Newsletters

Advertising

Superior Accuracy™

Video

Winter Center

AccuWeather Early Hurricane Center Top Stories Trending Today Astronomy Heat Climate Health Recreation In Memoriam Case Studies Blogs & Webinars

News / Hurricane

Death toll from Laura climbs in Caribbean to at least 23

By Mark Puleo, AccuWeather staff writer

Published Aug 24, 2020 5:27 PM EDT | Updated Aug 27, 2020 8:14 AM EDT

Copied
Tropical Storm Laura Hispaniola

A girl wades towards her flooded home the day after the passing of Tropical Storm Laura in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Aug. 24, 2020. Laura battered the Dominican Republic and Haiti on its way to the U.S. Gulf Coast, where it's expected to make a catastrophic strike. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

(AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

As the U.S. Gulf Coast endures a direct strike from Laura, the fallout in the Caribbean from what was previously Tropical Storm Laura is still coming into full focus. The death toll from Laura has reached at least 23 in the Caribbean, according to The Associated Press.

Laura's heaviest punches rained down on Haiti on Sunday, drilling the island nation with widespread flooding. The AP reported that at least 20 in Haiti were killed from Laura's impacts. Some of the most notable flooding occurred across the western and southeastern portions of the country, where videos on social media showed intensely murky floodwaters washing over streets near the civil protection authority office.

Three of the fatalities occurred in the Dominican Republic, the AP reported, which is Haiti's neighbor on the island of Hispaniola.

#TTLaura: Anpil lapli gentan tonbe plizyè kote nan peyi, sitou nan Lwès ak nan Sidès.

Sonje : dlo k ap desann PA JWE‼️#SezonSiklòn2020 #Laura pic.twitter.com/y5MlBEFWL8

— Pwoteksyon sivil (@Pwoteksyonsivil) August 23, 2020

As that toll rose, the tally included multiple children and the mother of a child who went missing after her vehicle was swept away by flash floods. Her 10-month-old son, who was in the vehicle with the mother at the time, is among the missing.

The first fatality came when a fallen tree crashed on a home in Anse-à-Pitre, a town near the Dominican Republic border. Inside the home was a 10-year-old girl who was killed.

In the aftermath of the destruction left by Laura, officials in Haiti also cautioned residents to be aware of the other looming danger that hasn't budged: COVID-19. While the country has a relatively low case rate of the pandemic, just over 8,000 cases and 197 deaths as of Monday, authorities have urged caution to prevent further spread as cleanup begins.

Laura, Marco
Twitter

"Wear your masks and respect distances, especially in temporary shelters," Interior Minister Audain Fils Bernadel said, according to Barrons. "With COVID, we have considerably less capacity in our shelters."

Across the border, the Dominican Republic is also feeling the wrathful sting as cleanup efforts begin in the new week.

Of the four lives lost on the island, a 7-year-old boy and his mother died when their Santo Domingo house collapsed due to severe flooding, according to the Miami Herald.

Street vendors cross a flooded street during Tropical Storm Laura in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2020. Tropical Storm Laura battered the Dominican Republic and Haiti and heading for a possible hit on the Louisiana coast as a hurricane, along with Tropical Storm Marco. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Recently-elected Dominican President La Yuca Luis Abinadar told reporters that the impacts of this weekend's intense storm would be felt for years. He also promised the crowd that plans would be enacted in order to prevent future tragedies around the ravines and rivers that are particularly prone to dangerous floods during storms.

"It will take us several years," Abinader said, according to NOLA.com. "We will relocate you to somewhere safe and help you with everything. The government is here for you."

At its peak intensity, Laura left over 1 million Dominican Republic residents without power, according to the country's electric utility, while another 1,050 Dominicans were forced to evacuate, according to Juan Manuel Mendez Garcia, the director of the Center of Emergency Operations.

Related:

Laura makes landfall on Louisiana coastline as Category 4 hurricane
How a hurricane's 'dirty side' factors into the storm surge it produces
Hurricane Laura to cause $25 billion to $30 billion in economic damage

In a press conference, the director added that roads and knocked down trees were complicating recovery efforts, particularly in the northern and eastern regions of the country. According to BBC, another 20,000 Dominicans have been displaced by flooding with over 4,000 homes flooded, and a state of emergency was extended from four to eight provinces.

Elsewhere in the Caribbean, impacts were dealt to the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Widespread power outages were reported throughout the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, where at one point, over 200,000 residents were left in the dark in areas still recovering from Hurricane Maria.

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.

Report a Typo
Comments that don't add to the conversation may be automatically or manually removed by Facebook or AccuWeather. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.
Comments
Hide Comments

Weather News

Weather News

‘Oh my God, we’re floating’: What people faced in amid Texas floods

Jul. 7, 2025
Weather News

The faces of the Texas flooding tragedy

Jul. 7, 2025
video

Rescue operations underway after deadly Texas flooding

Jul. 6, 2025
Severe Weather

Severe weather to rumble in the central US through the holiday weekend

Jul. 6, 2025
Weather News

Record sargassum seaweed piles up on Caribbean islands, Gulf

Jul. 2, 2025
Weather News

Alabama teen in ICU after lightning strike hits boat, causing burns an...

Jul. 2, 2025
Show more Show less Chevron down

Topics

AccuWeather Early

Hurricane Center

Top Stories

Trending Today

Astronomy

Heat

Climate

Health

Recreation

In Memoriam

Case Studies

Blogs & Webinars

Top Stories

Weather News

‘Oh my God, we’re floating’: What people faced in amid Texas floods

3 hours ago

Weather Forecasts

Flash flood threat to continue in central Texas into midweek

18 minutes ago

Weather News

At least 82 dead in Texas, dozens still missing in flooding

3 hours ago

Weather News

How torrential flooding wrought tragedy at girls camp in Texas

3 hours ago

Severe Weather

Flooding downpours, severe thunderstorms to mitigate heat in East

21 minutes ago

More Stories

Featured Stories

Travel

FAA investigating part of a Delta Air Lines wing fell onto a driveway

3 days ago

Health

Three hospitalized, 21 injured after bee attack in France

2 hours ago

Weather News

France leads Europe in saying au revoir to beach and park smoking

3 days ago

Weather News

125,000-year-old ‘fat factory’ run by Neanderthals discovered

2 hours ago

Weather News

An ambitious vision of a city built from lava

2 hours ago

AccuWeather Hurricane Death toll from Laura climbs in Caribbean to at least 23
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
© 2025 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | About Your Privacy Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

...

...

...