Above: a graphic of the storm (NWS)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Tropical storm Chantal degenerated to a tropical wave after passing over the Dominican Republic and Haiti, according to the US National Hurricane Center.

The storm had been a tropical storm over Hispaniola, where it pummeled the island with heavy rains and winds around 29 miles per hour.

The weather will remain disturbed as it spreads west over eastern Cuba and Jamaica, the center said in an alert.

Governments across the Caribbean had issued tropical storm warnings and alerts as Chantal neared.

Haiti, often hit hard by natural disasters, had set up a series of emergency shelters across the country and continued its real-time updates, including on social media, in a test of improvements to its alert system since being pummeled by a series of storms last year.