Three days after the tragic flooding that tore through several areas of the Dominican Republic and killed over 300 in Jimani, President Hipolito Mejia traveled by helicopter to the Jimani disaster area yesterday. The most serious part of the disaster occurred at around 2:30pm on Monday, 24 May. The President promised those who lost their homes that the government would build them new dwellings. Mejia promised that the construction by the INVI governmental department would start 1 June.
He said a new site would be determined for the new prefabricated homes. On his return to Santo Domingo, Mejia commented that the damages were ?incredible.? The Mejia government has been criticized for not effectively coordinating the necessary relief efforts.
Yesterday, the National Emergency Commission reported an official death toll of 339 in Jimani. Some 374 individuals, however, are still considered missing. In other areas of the country, another 11 lives were taken by the floods that were prompted by the extraordinary rains that fell over the weekend. The province of Independencia, where the Jimani tragedy occurred, was one of the only three provinces in which the outgoing President Mejia defeated his PLD competitor in the 16 May election.
As reported in Hoy, Mejia called the solidarity of the Dominican people ?amazing,? and spoke of how they, along with the government, private institutions and the international community, had come to the relief of Jimani.
Mejia traveled to Jimani accompanied by US Ambassador Hans Hertell, who is a personal friend.
Meanwhile, fire fighters and city government officials began hosing the streets of Jimani to prevent the spread of disease. El Caribe reports that the rescue efforts in Jimani were concluded yesterday, but will continue in the area of the Enriquillo Lake and Cabritos Island, where aerial site inspection detected at least another 35 corpses.