Evacuees top 35,000, floods cut off at least 40 towns

Santo Domingo.- The EmergencyOperations Center (COE) on Wednesday said Hurricane Matthew’s continuing downpourshave raised the number of people evacuated to 35,019, while 20 provinces continueunder flooding and mudslide warnings.

In a pressconference, the COE said 3,174 homes have been damaged and 20 destroyed, and atleast 40 communities remain cut off.

Most of the provincesunder alerts for swelled rivers and flash floods are in the southern andnorthwestern coasts, where Matthew cause major damages yet to be tallied.