Despair continues in the wake of floods caused by heavy rains

Santo Domingo — After hours of rain, neighborhoods in the National District and West Santo Domingo are alarmed by the flooding that followed the downpour early Tuesday morning, April 7.

When it all seemed like just heavy rain, residents from various neighborhoods described how they remained in shock at having to flee their homes in the middle of the night with their children in their arms, desperate because they had nowhere to take shelter.

In La Yuca, the area known as Las 800 because of the ravine bearing that name, several families lost their electrical appliances, such as refrigerators, televisions, and radios. It was left without beds, furniture, dining sets, food, and clothing. Amid the despair and anguish of seeing their belongings flooded, their children crying out of fear, and with no clear plan, these are still the things that hurt them when they recall early Tuesday morning.

As they removed the water and mud that covered the floor up to more than halfway up the walls, washed the clothes they were able to save, and gathered the few items that weren’t lost, they were overcome by a sense of helplessness at receiving no assistance from the authorities beyond street cleaning; yesterday, a truckload of cooked food was provided to be distributed to those who come to collect it.

As part of support for 112 families, the Republic of Costa Rica School has requested supplies from various state institutions and community members, who have donated clothing and shoes for the families of the school’s students.

Women removing a mattress soaked by the floods. Leonel Matos

“We issued a statement designating the school as a collection center for the families we’ve identified as needing assistance, so thatwe can provide them with aid. Once we have all the aid—or most of it—families will be able to come to the auditorium to pick up canned food, shoes, sheets, and other items we have available for them,” said Regina Rodríguez, the school’s principal.

During the visit to the affected area, several vehicles were seen that had been submerged and were stranded. Staff from the National District City Council, along with a team from the Santo Domingo Water and Sewer Corporation (CAASD), were cleaning the street to remove the mud blocking pedestrian passage.

“I’ve lived here for over 30 years, and my house has never flooded like this before; the furniture, the TV, the bed, clothes, and even the fridge were damaged, but all that happened after they started working on the drainage ditch,” said Mary.

Community members called on the mayor’s office to help provide mattresses for those who lost theirs.

Los Girasoles Segundo

With belongings piled outside their homes and clothes still covered in mud being hauled out, this is the reality facing some residents of Las Plantitas in the Los Girasoles Segundo neighborhood. The ravine running near their homes overflowed, flooding parts of their houses.

Those affected said a truck arrived with beds and food supplies, but only a few people received aid, and those living near the ravine didn’t get anything. They also requested water trucks because the water supply has been cut off for 15 days, and they have no way to wash the clothes that got wet in the rain.

“I’m hanging everything out to dry without washing it because there’s no water and no one is coming to bring us any. Last night, everything in my house got wet, and to keep the water from outside from coming in, I closed the door and stayed there on the bed until morning, when it was all over, and then I went out,” said Ana Ramona Sánchez.

The principal of the Colegio Profesora Margarita Báez, Alejandrina Severino, said that many of the students’ documents she had were damaged, while others were recovered and laid out in the sun to dry. However, they lost computers, speakers, and other electronic devices.

“The water entered the principal’s office and the classrooms downstairs, but that happened because they’re building in the ravine and the exposed debris trapped the trash, which prevented the water from draining,” she said.

manoguayabo

Some streets in the Hato Nuevo and San Miguel neighborhoods in Manoguayabo were flooded to the point that residents lost their belongings. Many described these rains as the heaviest they’d ever experienced, since on other occasions their homes hadn’t flooded to the point of having to run out with the little ones in their arms.

“We went to the houses where there was no water and kept moving until they filled up, and the COE came with a boat to take us out to the avenue so we could go to our relatives. It was all horrible because we have our young children—a newborn, a 12-year-old, and a 3-year-old,” explained Elaina Martínez.

The beds, furniture, and clothes scattered outside the homes gave the first glimpse of what had happened; everything they had worked so hard for, now discarded, covered in mud, and some with tears on their cheeks as they cleaned up what little they could.

Los Alcarrizos

The heavy rains caused the Lebrón Creek to overflow in Los Alcarrizos, triggering floods. Amid the desperation, several people were swept away by the current until community members rescued them.

“It was a terrible disaster. Around 2:00 in the morning, the river rose in a matter of seconds, flooding all the houses. As I was running, a nail went into my foot; two elderly people were swept away by the current, and we managed to save them with a rope; they’re now in the hospital. That had never happened like that before, but these rains destroyed everything, and you see people running, carrying their children in their arms,” said Carolina Rojas, distressed by the memory of that harrowing scene.

After the rains, the families were terrified and stayed with neighbors and relatives until the province of Santo Domingo was removed from the Emergency Operations Center (COE) alert list.