Heavy rains continue to cause flooding
QUOTE DOMINICAN TODAY
Santo Domingo.- A total of 615 people have had to leave their homes and 163 houses were flooded as a result of the heavy rains over the last 48 hours, according to a report from the Emergencies Operations Center (COE) director Colonel Juan Manuel M?ndez Garc?a.
M?ndez Garc?a explained that most of the flooding had occurred in Puerto Plata, La Vega and Espaillat province, as a result of rivers bursting their banks.
He said that the rains were expected to continue across a large part of the country, and that the green alert still applied for people living in vulnerable areas, mainly in the provinces of
Santiago, Mar?a Trinidad S?nchez, Puerto Plata, Espaillat, Saman?, Monte Plata and Santo Domingo.
In Puerto Plata the areas of El Javillar, Gregorio Luper?n, Las Tres Palmas, Aguas Negras and Padre Granero are still flooded, where a total of 135 houses were affected by the Cam? and San Marcos rivers bursting their banks.
?The COE is currently in the area assessing damage and offering help to the families that have had to be evacuated and have gone to stay with friends and relations?, said Colonel M?ndez.
He said that the Puerto Plata neighbourhoods of Villa Progreso, Padre Las casas, Haiti, los Callejones, Barrio Nuevo, La Rigola, Bayardo, Los Coquitos and urbanizaci?n Atl?ntica had also been affected.
A further ten homes are flooded in Hoyo La Joya in La Vega province, and 18 houses and one school were flooded when a gully overflowed in Espaillat province.
The COE director informed that the rains are set to continue across the country.
He said that the fact that the ground is saturated means there is a continued risk of flooding in high-risk areas, and that the COE was monitoring the situation and ready to offer assistance.