President Hipolito Mejia will visit the areas affected by heavy rainfall and flooding in the northeast of the country today, accompanied by an agricultural assessment team. Yesterday the President told reporters he felt the authorities had done all they could to provide assistance to the victims. In response to complaints from local people that the government had not done enough, Mejia said that “the water levels cannot fall by decree.” The floods affected over 9,000 families and damaged more than 1,000 homes. Evacuees currently number 47,000 and the death toll has risen to nine, according to some reports. It is still difficult to measure the cost of the damage, but the Agricultural Ministry is estimating that at least 600,000 quintales of rice, equivalent to one month’s national supply, has been lost. Hundreds of heads of livestock are also reported missing. Damages could total over RD$1 billion, according to the Ministry. Water levels in the Taveras dam are continuing to rise, according to Radhames Lora Salcedo, president of the national emergency committee (CNE), so there is not likely to be any immediate respite for the flooded areas. The flooding in the Montecristi area resulted in the collapse of part of the road that links the town with Dajabon. The Archbishop of Santiago, Ramon de la Rosa y Carpio, called on the government to provide “serious assistance” to victims of the disaster, despite the economic crisis and instead of “merely making promises on television and in the newspapers.” He also said there should be more control over where people build their homes, so they are not in areas vulnerable to this type of flooding. He described the practice of families who are allocated a house by the authorities, who then rent it out and live in a precarious dwelling in a flood-prone area. TV news channel CDN (Cadena de Noticias) is warning of more rain for today which could worsen the situation in already-inundated areas.