Tomorrow is the anniversary of two of the more damaging natural disasters to affect the Dominican Republic in recent years. Tomorrow is the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Georges that caused major damages to a large part of the southern and eastern seaboard of the nation. Tomorrow is also the third anniversary of the 22 September earthquake that violently shook the northern part of the Dominican Republic.
With Georges, just a few hours of hurricane winds destroyed housing, flooded rivers and killed hundreds. Georges traveled slowly over the Dominican countryside, taking 16 hours, all told. It packed sustained winds of 240 kilometers per hour and 20 inches of rain fell, mostly in the southern half of the country. According to the Dominican Commission for Disaster Relief, there were 1,200 victims of the hurricane and 15,000 households were destroyed.
As a result of Georges, the government created the National Disaster Council that is composed of 28 different institutions and now has a Center for Disaster Operations in Santo Domingo. The Disaster Council now has over 3,000 trained personnel and thousands of volunteers that have received disaster training as well.
Two years ago, in the very early morning hours, a 6.5 degree earthquake hit the northern part of the country, awakening people at dawn break and causing incredible structural damage to many buildings. However, only a few people died during the quake. The Listin Diario reports that very little of the damaged buildings have been repaired over the past two years. The old wharf in Puerto Plata is still split open from the quake and the schools have yet to be rebuilt. The government spent RD$33 million to acquire a small shopping mall to accommodate the students that had lost their schools. In Puerto Plata, the city most affected by the quake, the two public high schools, the sports complex, two elementary schools, the cathedral, the building that houses the Banco de Reservas and the Artisan Center have not yet been fully restored to their former condition.