Although Hurricane Ivan passed well to the south of the Dominican Republic, its winds, rain and waves were felt strongly in the southern regions of the country. The National Commission for Emergencies (CNE) has issued a red alert for the Southwest Coast of the country from Bani and Azua to Pedernales, with special attention to the areas nearest the sea. In San Juan de la Maguana, the authorities have forcefully evacuated the population from the neighborhood called Mesopotamia, the same one that lost untold hundreds of people during the flooding that followed Hurricane Georges in 1998. According to stories carried in today’s El Caribe, the authorities announced that the dam at Sabaneta is near its critical level and water may have to be released in order to avoid a greater catastrophe. Yesterday, 600 people were removed from the danger zone. Octavio Rodriguez, who is in charge of all the country’s hydroelectric dams, said that the Sabaneta dam was at 96% of it absolute capacity, and the predicted rainfall from Ivan would oblige the floodgates to be opened. Currently the dam is just 68 centimeters away overflowing its spillways. Sources reported that the dam could not hold another 5 centimeters of rainfall.
In far sadder news, the body of the fourth child was recovered from the waters of the Caribbean Sea yesterday after drowning in the stormy waters. According to family members, the four siblings had gone to the area near the sea in order to pick almonds. The children lived with their parents who were working at the time of the tragedy.
In Santo Domingo, massive waves have dislodged the benches along long stretches of the George Washington Avenue and 30 de Mayo Highway. This avenue, better known as the Malecon, runs alongside the Caribbean Sea for more than 15 kilometers. Further south, in the area around San Cristobal, at least two houses near the sea were destroyed and another 20 were flooded at Playa de Loyola.
And, of course, the entire town of Jimani is reliving the tragedy of just a few months ago, when heavy rains flooded the town and carried hundreds to their deaths. Numerous people have already sought shelter on higher ground in that Haitian border region, as the police and armed forces are getting people away from the ocean in other areas of the Pedernales province.
As Hurricane Ivan continues east after ravaging other areas of the Caribbean, particularly Grenada, Jamaica is now bracing for its wrath. Hoy newspaper reports that 2,000 tourists holidaying in Jamaica were transported to Puerto Plata yesterday afternoon. The category 4 storm is expected to reach Jamaica’s southeast coast tonight. Ivan is responsible for at least 25 deaths so far, according to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency.