La Informacion, the Santiago paper nearest the flood areas, is reporting desperation among the refugees, with at least ten dead and several more injured. According to reporter Miguel Ponce, the flood victims are still waiting for help from government agencies that have promised to provide relief. In some poor neighborhoods, like Los Santos in Santiago, where many of the houses were carried away by the waters, no government help has arrived. Other papers reported that homemakers were complaining that the government had sent them food, but that there was no designated area or equipment to prepare it.
Further reports carried in today’s edition say there are 195,000 tareas (over 32,000 acres) of crops that have been damaged and 65,000 people evacuated from the danger zones.
The National Commission for Emergencies (COE in Spanish) reported that it had lowered the danger alert in the Yuna watershed from Cotui to the Samana Bay, and along the Yaque River from Santiago to Mao. Nevertheless, the COE has maintained the red alert in the area along the Yaque River, from Mao to Monte Cristi. The latest figures from the Emergency Commission show that 2,159 people are now housed in 11 refugee centers.