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View Full Version : Rains bring havoc to Cibao



NewsWhore
02-12-2009, 02:30 PM
President Fernandez will fly to the central Cibao area today to inspect the damage caused by nine days of heavy rains. Yesterday the bad weather kept his aircraft grounded. He is expected to land in Tamboril and then visit other affected areas in the Lower Yuna River Basin. The authorities from the Ministry of Public Health initiated a preventive vaccination campaign among the evacuated persons in the Calientisimo section of Tamboril where there are 530 persons that on Tuesday morning lost their homes to landslides in the Carlos Diaz section of the municipality. Dr. Ramon Martinez, the provincial health director, said that attending doctors in several medical specialties were also sent to the area.
Meanwhile the Presidential Social Plan is providing food rations to the displaced persons.
For his part, the regional director of education, Clement de la Cruz, said that the nearly 200 students of the high school that was buried in the landslide would be relocated to different schools in Canca la Piedra and other neighboring communities. At the same time, police authorities reported that several persons were arrested when caught stealing from the homes of the disaster victims.
Thousands of acres of farms producing tomatoes, rice, bananas, plantains, and other staples located in Castanuelas, Palo Verde and Monte Cristi were affected by the floodwaters, and many are still under water yesterday as a result of the floods from the Yaque River.
Regarding the infrastructure of the road system, the Vice-Minister of Public Works for the North Region, Porfirio Brito, said that the most affected section were the road from Navarrete to Puerto Plata, the Touristic Highway from Puerto Plata to Santiago and the rural roads in Santiago, Moca and La Vega.
The National Emergency Center (COE) reported yesterday afternoon that more than 15,055 persons had been evacuated and most of these were in homes of family members. 3,011 houses were affected and 64 communities isolated by floodwaters or damaged roads or bridges.
Faced with the possibility of more rains in the Cibao Valley area, the red alert is still in place for Monte Cristi, Valverde, Santiago, Duarte, Sanchez Ramirez, Samana, Maria Trinidad Sanchez, Puerto Plata, Monsignor Nouel, Espaillat and San Pedro de Macoris. There is a yellow alert in place for Hermanas Mirabala, La Altagracia, El Seibo, La Vega, Hato Mayor, and Santiago Rodriguez. The COE also reported that it ordered the release of water from the Valdesia Dam due to the rains in the High Watershed of the Nizao River.

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