The province of San Jose de Ocoa in the southwest was incommunicado after mudslides caused the Sabana Larga Bridge to collapse on Wednesday, 25 October. The mudslides affected the Ocoa-Cruce de Ocoa road, creating major inconvenience for the residents of San Jose de Ocoa. In Raqueta, near Bani, residents are blaming a construction materials company for causing the flooding of a gully that affected the town. The community is asking the authorities to suspend the construction materials company’s work permits and to order them to make the repairs.
The vulnerability of the potable water supply system was highlighted yesterday, Thursday 25 October when rains form the backlash from Hurricane Sandy caused 60% of the potable water distribution system for Santo Domingo and the Santo Domingo Province of Santo Domingo to collapse. Alejandro Montas, director of the Santo Domingo Water Corporation (CAASD) said the usual 354 million gallons produced by the system was reduced to 144 million gallons. He said the rains had caused the failure of the Isa, Duey and Haina-Manoguayabo systems, the city’s main water sources. The rains also led to power failures, including a nationwide blackout. Montas urged the public to use water sparingly.
The Weather Department (Onamet) is forecasting that rain will continue for another 24 hours nationwide.
The latest bulletin (no. 5) from the Emergency Operations Center (COE) on Friday, 26 October puts the number of people evacuated at 18,110, homes damaged at 3,569, and homes destroyed at seven.
Dominicans are now concerned about the risk of Hurricane Sandy hitting New York City as a Perfect Storm. NYC is the second largest Dominican city in the world in terms of numbers of Dominican residents. A Perfect Storm occurs when three different systems meet n in this case, Hurricane Sandy, an arctic front and a jet stream.
www.coe.gov.do/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=512:informe-de-situacion-no-5-huracan-sandy-11-am-26-de-octubre&catid=4:alertas&Itemid=43
www.accuweather.com/en/hurricane/atlantic
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2223047/Hurricane-Sandy-Forecasters-warn-pre-Halloween-perfect-storm-strike-East-Coast.html
www.nytimes.com/2012/10/26/us/early-worries-that-hurricane-sandy-may-be-a-perfect-storm.html
For weather forecast updates on the DR in English, see www.dr1.com/forums/weather-beyond/123903-stormy-season-2012-a.html