Hurricane Preparation

hurricane season last from june to november so there is no real point talking about it now. in addition, the winds normally come from inland and they slows down significantly before reaching the north coast. historically this area has suffered very little during hurricane season.

there are no evacuation shelters. flooding is not an issue, we don't need hurricanes for that, streets of DR flood with every single rain and the water goes down pretty quickly.

I think shelters as we know them are not needed as there is no wind on earth capable of damaging the walls they build in this country. So in case of hurricans, people are told to stay home. Those who live in houses made of wood are directed toward schools or other public buildings.

Harry
If you go to the DR1 homepage and click on the living section you will find an article about hurricanes.

The north coast hasn't been hit with a real hurricane for a very long time. They tend to veer north of the island or lose strength as they cross over from the south. Haiti has more problems from mudslides, but in the DR the worse you might have to worry about is having a bridge or two down.

in general the danger from 'canes isn't the wind itself, (except in places with poorly built frame houses or mobile homes / trailers). The danger is from the crap the wind is blowing around. A tree branch or lumber becomes a mini missile, a road sign becomes a guillotine blade, etc., etc. The other danger is like Peter said... mud in places like Haiti, or storm surge in developed places along the shore. If you're in a well built building a little bit above sea level, just "duck and cover" and wait for it to end.

There are some residential areas along the north coast that are flood-prone, but it is worth remembering that in countries like the DR disaster vulnerability is strongly linked to poverty.

People living in these high-risk areas are warned and schools and other community buildings like churches double up as shelters. If you live in a solid house that is not located on a flood plain, near a riverbank or on a steep slope or a ravine, your chances of being affected are limited to minor flooding and damage from flying debris.

Of course there may also be damage/casualties caused by sheer bad luck or poor judgement.

This is the government agency in charge of coordinating preparedness and response to disasters - COE. www.coe.gov.do
Several international organisations have disaster preparedness programmes in the DR, mostly in the south west/south/south east regions. The ones I know of on the north coast are Unicef and CRS.

you are all correct. i forgot that schools and churches serve as emergency shelter here. generally, i suppose, people who are evacuated just go to stay with family but in some case it may not be possible/safe. concrete buildings with concrete roofs are very safe, i don't even see anyone boarding the windows for the event of a hurricane. i wonder if iron bars do help a bit? anything flying at our windows will hit iron bars first and the damage is not likely to be significant, even if the glass breaks.

like chiri says: those better off have nothing to worry about. the poorer ones will be taken care by COE: evacuated, secured and fed if needed.

See this DR1 article

DR1 - Hurricanes