Civil Defense authorities in Santiago told reporters that 1,000 families had to be moved to safety as a result of the continuous rainfall over the past three days. According to weather reports, the rains are the product of a low-pressure ridge that came down from Florida and settled over the island of Hispaniola. Last year, a similar weather pattern caused hundreds of death in Haiti and the Dominican Republic as dry river beds became raging mudslides and torrents of water. This year, the rains have fallen mainly in the northernmost reaches of the country. In Santiago de los Caballeros, the Jacagua River, the Gurabo stream, and a creek that flows through the La Gallera section of town all overflowed their banks, causing the Civil Defense teams to react in a hurry. In La Gallera the creek destroyed houses, leaving several families homeless. Parts of the Jacagua section of the city were cut off from the town’s center by the flood waters. The small bridge over the creek on Padre Las Casas Avenue was destroyed by the water and the pressure of accumulated materials in the watercourse. In Puerto Plata, hundreds of homes were flooded and the major roadways leading to Puerto Plata from the Cibao Valley were affected. Landslides along the Luperon Touristic Highway, as well as along the road to Navarrete, made transit difficult. The rains have also isolated sections of Nagua and San Francisco de Macoris. Reports from that region tell of severed links between Sanchez and Samana, and flooding along the Nagua River has cut communication with San Francisco de Macoris. Places like El Factor, El Pozo, El Papayo and Castillo were left without land communication due to the flooding of the Lechal River. In recent times, the flooding of the El Lechal River has cut Nagua off from the rest of the country three times, causing the local authorities to request that a bridge that can guarantee them access during flood stages of the river be constructed.
The Weather Department director Jose Maria Duquela told El Caribe newspaper that the weather should improve as of tomorrow and weather should be good for the holidays.
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