Agriculture takes a blow

[NewsWhore]

Some 200,000 'tareas', the equivalent of about 12,600 hectares of different crops were affected by the floods resulting from 9 days of rain in the Cibao Valley and north of the country, according to reports from the Ministry of Agriculture. Salvador, "Chio" Jimenez said that there was also severe infrastructure damage and nearly 3,000 homes under water. Of these, according to the report in Hoy, 72 were totally destroyed. Also, two rural clinics collapsed and several communities are still isolated by floodwaters, broken bridges or damaged roadways. In Tamboril, the landslides continue in the community of Carlos Diaz, and the Army has declared the area a danger zone and prohibited access even to the press. The chief of the Second Brigade, headquartered in Santiago, General Amilcar Fernandez Tejada said there is a real danger that landslides could continue. But the municipalities and communities hope that the worst has past. Maria Rosario told reporters, "Losing that community (Carlos Diaz) is like losing a family member, because I grew up there and started my family there. I never thought that it was going to suffer anything like this. I give thanks to God that nobody lost a loved one." Alexandra Llanos and Jose Rodriguez joined together to call on the President to ensure that the more than 700 children in the community will not loose their school year. Rodriguez told reporters that he was in the fourth year of high school and he had high hopes to be able to go on to university and get work.

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