wind decreased. While convection remained in bands, the low level circulation was disrupted by land. This left the center ill-defined and difficult to locate. Late on October 23, Alpha made landfall in Hispaniola, quickly decreasing in intensity as it did so. After making landfall, the storm weakened, leaving it just between tropical storm and tropical depression status. Because of the weakening, and the strong southerly flow from nearby Hurricane Wilma, it was hard to determine whether a low-level circulation was present. However, satellite imagery suggested that a new center had developed over open waters to the north of Hispaniola. It was downgraded to a tropical depression early the next day, now re-emerging over open waters. The storm soon developed an elongated center of circulation which indicated that the system was weakening. On October 24 the low-level center had completely dissolved, and only a small area of convective activity persisted. Thus, the system had dissipated, and was a remnant low pressure system when the National Hurricane Center issued their last advisories of Alpha. Shortly thereafter, the remnant low was absorbed into the circulation of Hurricane Wilma on October 25. Preparations On October 22, the National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning for the island of Hispaniola and a tropical storm watch for Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas. The tropical storm watch was quickly upgraded to a tropical storm warning. In the Dominican Republic, authorities ordered the evacuation of at least 30,000 people living in areas where flooding was possible. On October 22 and 23, the Haitian government ordered level 1 and then level 2 alerts for the county in anticipation of Tropical Storm Alpha's rainfall. Haiti was already experiencing flooding from Hurricane Wilma's passage between October 8 and 19, so the threat of more rainfall was particularly dire. The country's Centre National de Meteorologie issued weather bulletins through existing media distribution channels with clear instructions on how residences should prepare for floods and landslides. The local government of Sud-Est ordered the evacuation of its capital city, Jacmel. The national government mobilized personnel and resources of the Direction of Civil Protection, the Secrétariat Permanent de Gestion des Risques et des Désastres (SPGRD), and the National Police to pre-arranged Emergency Operation Centres. Impact Although the storm's circulation technically made landfall near Barahona in the Dominican Republic, the bulk of its impact occurred in the country's poorer neighbor, Haiti. When