The flooding of of Jimani and the adjacent shantytowns could happen again, the director of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources told Hoy, El Nacional and El Dia reporters yesterday at a breakfast for executives at the media group. He said that what happened in Jimani was an extraordinary event, as floods had not occurred there since 1912, but that similar events could be repeated in other areas of the country.
Carrasco says the problem stems from people having settled on land where rivers once flowed but are now dried out. When there is a major rainstorm, therefore, the waters return to their natural course and more tragedies could result. Furthermore, he explained that the surroundings of many of the rivers have been cleared of trees, thus aggravating an already dangerous situation. He described this as the ?Haitianization? of the river basins of the country, especially areas near the Haitian border, where deforestation is almost complete.
Carrasco alerted that this year will see activity from La Nina, the weather phenomenon that is known to bring more than the usual amounts of rain. Carrasco says that it is necessary to step up the dissemination of information to the population in order to mitigate the potential for damage and alert the people of imminent dangers. He explained that Jimani was built on a river basin of 150 kilometers (15,000 hectares) that begins in Haiti and ends at Enriquillo Lake. He said that the waters swelled up in the highest part of the basin, some 2,600 meters above, on Lasalle Mountain in Haitian territory, the second highest peak on the island after Pico Duarte. By the times these waters arrived on Dominican territory, they carried great force.
He suggested that a dike be built in Jimani to protect the town, and in time that a dam be erected to regulate the water?s flow, but reiterated that the ideal solution would be to relocate the entire town to a safer area.
While not represented at the breakfast, the United Nations Development Program has studied all areas of the country where there is potential for dangerous flooding, and has made recommendations for specific minor constructions that can be carried out to avoid grand-scale disasters.