Floodwaters damage homes, roads; 17,459 people displaced

Santo Domingo.-  The Emergency Operations Center (COE) on Tuesday said 17,459 people had been evacuated from their homes, 314 of them to taken to official shelters, as a result of the downpours of the last few days.

Meanwhile the National Weather Office (Onamet) forecasts that the rains will continue during the next 36 to 48 hours .

It said the rains could exceed 100 millimeters in some places, and forecasts that another trough will affect the country starting Friday.

On its website, the COE maintains 26 provinces under flash flooding and landslide warnings.

It said 75 communities are still cut off, 3,429 homes have been damaged and nine totally destroyed, 10 bridges affected and 13 roads washed out. “There are 36 aqueducts out of service, 22 of them on preventive shutdown and the rest because of turbidity of its waters and damages.”