DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

After months of drought, the northwestern provinces of Santiago Rodriguez and Valverde were hit with a possible tornado on Saturday, 4 September 2021. It was perhaps a micro-burst, yet it was sufficiently strong enough to tear off roofs, up-root trees and down power lines. And, it rained very heavily for more than an hour.

The city of San Ignacio de Sabaneta (better known as Santiago Rodriguez) is nestled in the northern foothills of the Central Mountain Range, but the area has been hard hit by drought for several months. The lowlands of the province, and neighboring Montecristi have been in this situation on and off for a long time.

The rarity of such a violent weather event, with many videos surfacing on social media, is that there is not much flat land for the winds to swirl around without obstructions.

The Ministry of Agriculture reported the tornado caused...