Before winding its way northwards, Hurricane Sandy left a trail of damage worth more than RD$933 million in the Dominican Republic. The wind and rain affected large tomato and plantain plantations, and their prices have increased in local markets and supermarkets. A total of 153,661 “tareas” (over 9,500 hectares) were affected and the losses were said to be RD$989 million all over the country. Diario Libre quotes Minister of Agriculture Luis Ramon Rodriguez who revealed the extent of the damage during a meeting with editors and reports from the economic sections of the country’s newspapers in his office.
The main crops that were affected were plantains, bananas, coffee, avocado, beans, pigeon peas, cassava (yuca), sweet potatoes, rice, corn, onions, watermelons and tomatoes. In the southwest, Sandy damaged 43,693 tareas of crops for a loss of RD$358.7 million. In the Central Region, the losses were 26,455 tareas and a value of RD$264 million. Likewise, in the south, the affected areas were said to total 78,440 tareas and a loss of RD$362 million. In the northwest, the storm affected 4.410 tareas for a loss of RD$441,000 and in the north, just 663 tareas and a loss of RD$3.8 million.
In total, the area affected was 153,661 tareas and the losses were RD$989 million. In Ocoa alone, the entire open-air tomato crop was damaged and more than 100,000m2 of greenhouses were damaged. In Constanza 45,000m2 of greenhouses were destroyed.