Rains overflow rivers and cut off towns and villages

Santo Domingo – Overflowing rivers, towns cut off from communication, and hundreds of houses threatened are the consequences of the most recent rains in the national territory, which have already caused the death of a woman in Constanza, La Vega province.

Meanwhile, thousands of civil defense men and women are urged to act if necessary, as agreed by the organization’s directorate during a meeting with all the provincial directors.

The Cabón River has been overflowing for several days, keeping several communities isolated, such as La Ceiba, Los Castillo, Reventón, and others in the Municipal District of La Victoria, Cabón, Rancho Arriba, as well as Chirino, in Monte Plata.

Interview with the Director of Operations of the Civil Defense, Mr. Delfin Antonio Rodriguez and tour of areas affected by the rain in the province of Santo Domingo East, and the Crossing of the Gabon River, in the sector of La Victoria, Photos. Jose Francisco, 7-6-2024

Delfin Rodriguez, director of Operations of the Civil Defense, informed that all the personnel of this first response entity in the provinces located in yellow alert are quartered to act immediately in case of any emergency.

He said that the personnel under his direction continued to help the families who abandoned their homes affected by the flooding of rivers and streams in Santiago, La Vega, and Monseñor Nouel return to their homes.

Yesterday, the DC management, together with the provincial directors, evaluated the damages and needs caused by the rains to help those who lost their belongings. He cited among the damages the collapse of a wall in the community of La Sabina, Constanza, which ended the life of Mrs. Isidra Pichardo, 56 years old.

In Greater Santo Domingo, the Ozama River threatened to penetrate hundreds of houses on its banks, both on the eastern and western sides, and the inhabitants of these houses were on the alert to abandon them if necessary. Nicolás Guillén, owner of a dinghy, which he uses to transport those who live in isolated localities, narrates the vicissitudes that those who live in these places go through every time the rainy season arrives.

He says that on occasions, he has had to serve as a kind of 9-1-1, wrapping serious people in savannah and transporting them in the dinghy over the river because there is no other way to do it.

The government urgently needs a solution, which has already begun to rebuild streets and sidewalks in La Ceiba and Los Castillo.

On his side, López Berberé, who lives in La Ceiba, has not been able to turn the animals he has in Cabón, on the other side of the same name, for several days because the river flows down with a lot of water.

He indicates that agricultural products such as Maruyama, cacao, rice, plantain, banana, banana, corn, and other crops are grown in the area, which is in danger every time it rains because the river prevents their owners from tending to them.