Tropical storm weakens, but leaves 20 dead in Caribbean

Tropical storm weakens, but leaves 20 dead in Caribbean

 A boat sits in shallow water as Tropical Storm Erika passes through New Town, Dominica, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015. Erika was expected to move near Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands on Thursday and be near or just north of the Dominican Republic on Friday as it heads toward Florida early next week, possibly as a hurricane.
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.