Two deaths, hundreds of thousands without electricity, thousands displaceda dozen towns are out of communication… Dominican Republic starts digitizing this Tuesday Damage caused by Hurricane Fiona on the country road.
Although Dominican president Luis Abinader said today that the overall assessment of the damage will take about five days, some figures are already known: currently 10,840 people are still displaced, 2,168 homes are affected (613 destroyed), and about 317,000 users of the Emergency Operations Center (COE). ) they go without a power supply, according to its latest bulletin. In addition, there are more than 70 damaged aqueducts, 68 of which are out of service; 23 roads, three level crossings and sixteen bridges, two of which collapsed, were affected.
In addition, there are two deceased, a 72-year-old boy who fell into the top of a tree, and an 18-year-old girl when a utility pole collapsed while riding a motorcycle.
Faced with this situation, Abinader canceled her trip to New York to attend the UN General Assembly, and members of the government toured the northeast and northern regions where Fiona had suffered the most after hitting Puerto Rico. On Monday, it landed in the Dominican Republic as a Category 1 hurricane. Dominican Administrator announces measures to mitigate the effects of the cyclone and therefore, the mayors of the affected areas will receive special funding on Thursday. In addition, two special operations centers were opened, one in Samaná (northeast of the country) and the other in Higüey (east) to meet the needs of these areas.
Among the main issues is the issue of electricity supply, which also affects drinking water service, so time is being worked out to restore both. Meanwhile, Dominicans try to save as much as they can from their homes and belongings. In El Seibo, in the east of the country, residents of the Giandiana neighborhood sun-dry everything they can, from clothes to armchairs, furniture drawers and even refrigerators, to make them useful again. One of the affected, Juleisi de la Rosa, tells EFE how the waters of the river entered her house to wet “everything” and confirms with surrender and laughter: “A few zinc plates (from the roof) have gone, but right now I got up and crashed into them.” “At four in the morning the storm started, I left at half past four and went to my friend’s house and when I came in the morning I saw that everything was under water (…) The river rose and when it collided, the river rose up. It went into the creek and went towards the house”, says the man who helped his mother by cleaning the gas stove in the middle of the street This young woman lives alone with her little daughter.
The Dominican Republic is still under the influence of indirect influences. hurricane Fionaespecially in the eastern, northeastern, southeastern regions and in the Central Cordillera, particularly La Altagracia, San Juan, Peravia, San José de Ocoa, San Cristóbal and Greater Santo Domingo. These conditions are expected to continue into the local afternoon-late night, according to a statement from the National Meteorological Office (Onamet).
For this reason, the Emergency Operations Center issues a yellow warning in nineteen provinces and a green warning in eight provinces. In addition, while the use of beaches, water sports and recreational activities in the mountains are prohibited throughout the country, all coastal vessels must remain in port.
Reaching category 3, a maximum of 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale this Tuesday, and the third Atlantic hurricane of 2022, Fiona landed in the Dominican Republic at 03:00 local time (07:00 GMT). Monday. He left the country at 13:00 (17:00 GMT) and crossed the North Atlantic.