Hurricane Sandy is far to the west, now a Category 2 Hurricane making its way to the United States, but nine of the country’s provinces are on red alert, nine are on yellow and 15 on green. News reports say that 1,625 people have been displaced, 325 houses were damaged and 62 communities are cut off due to flooding caused by rains brought by the storm. There has been damage to agriculture in Barahona and other parts of the southwest. The National Meteorological Office says that strong and medium rainfall will continue across the whole country today, and will be heavier in the south west, west, north west, central mountain area, center of the country and the south coast. The forecast says that the rains could continue until Saturday, 27 October.
The torrential rains that fell for almost 24 hours in Santo Domingo caused major transport problems due to poor drainage in many points in the city. The Ministry of Education has decided to suspend classes nationwide until Monday, 29 October. The rains had mostly cleared by noon on Thursday 25 October, as the outer band of Hurricane Sandy took its toll in the country. The intense rains caused a nationwide blackout at 6:34am that forced the Santo Domingo Metro to suspend its service.
http://presidencia.gob.do/comunicado/gobierno-toma-previsiones-por-efectos-huracan-sandy/
See the DR1 weather forecasting link for weather updates during this Atlantic Basin Hurricane Season.
http://dr1.com/forums/weather-beyond/123903-stormy-season-2012-a.html