A week of rainfall has returned flooding and landslides to the life of many residents of the Cibao Valley and the mountains that are to the north. Newspapers carried the stories of houses sliding off of the hillsides and travel along the panoramic Luperon Touristic Highway, an alternate route from Puerto Plata to Santiago. El Caribe and the Diario Libre reported the rising waters of the Yaque del Norte and streams had isolated around 50 small communities in the area. The National Institute for Water Resources (INDRHI) ordered the floodgates of the Tavera Dam opened to release the excess water. In the low-laying areas around Nagua, the fields were once again flooded. Later reports count 4,000 person evacuated from possible flooded areas and more than 100 houses flooded out. At least two persons are reported as missing. Several bridges were affected, especially the one in Guayacanes, La Vega. Other areas affected were in Duarte and Maria Trinidad Sanchez provinces in the northeast. In the lower Yuna River Valley, 2,410 families were evacuated from low-laying areas and in Monte Cristi, hundreds of families in the Palo Verde, El Higuero and La Cruz communities were moved to safer housing.