The death toll increases in the Dominican Republic due to torrential rains

Santo Domingo– The Dominican authorities confirmed the recovery of nine deaths as a result of the collapse of a section of the side wall of an overpass in the capital that fell on several vehicles that were circulating through the infrastructure, affected by the torrential rains that are hitting the country.

According to the head of the National District Fire Department, Jose Luis Frometa Herasme, there are five women and nine men who were traveling in the crushed vehicles, five in total, and whose recovery has taken about seven hours.

After midnight on Sunday, the emergency teams deployed in the area concluded the work to recover the bodies and removed the cars from the accident site, where the large blocks of the collapsed wall remained.

After the event, the authorities closed the central overpass, located on Avenida 27 de Febrero and Maximo Gomez in the capital, as well as other similar structures and tunnels in the city as a precaution, while rescue teams worked to remove the debris with heavy machinery.

Suspension of labor

The Dominican president, Luis Abinader, convened a work session at the National Palace with the directors of the various security and rescue organizations of the State, and issued two decrees with measures aimed at helping citizens after the impact of the atmospheric phenomenon, reported the Presidency in a statement.

One of the documents provides for the suspension of work in the national territory, in the public and private sectors, from 10:00 on Saturday night until 7:00 in the morning on Monday, due to the torrential rains that are still affect the Caribbean country.

The Emergency Operations Center keeps 30 of the country’s 32 provinces on alert, 13 of them in red level, 12 in yellow and five in green due to possible flooding of rivers, streams and ravines, since heavy downpours will continue to occur. thunderstorms and gusts of wind associated with the tropical disturbance.

Other effects of rain

The natural phenomenon has led to the evacuation of thousands of people and its effects have damaged dozens of homes and various infrastructures in different parts of the country.

Rescuers from the Villa Altagracia Fire Department, San Cristobal, the Armed Forces and the COE went to the rescue, by air, of 20 people from the Sabana Piedra community of that municipality, after the Guananito River flooded.

One of the provinces most affected by the rainfall is San Jose de Ocoa, where the August 16 bridge in the municipality of Sabana Larga collapsed, leaving one person missing, the COE reported.

The road that leads to the municipality was completely flooded due to the overflowing of the Ocoa River channel and the road was impassable in the afternoon, as EFE was able to verify.

Another province especially affected by the rains is Azua, where floods have forced the displacement of hundreds of people, as in Sanchez Ramirez, while in Duarte and Monte Plata several communities were cut off due to rising rivers.

In Maria Trinidad Sanchez, Santiago and San Cristobal, flooding in homes and damage to infrastructure was also recorded due to the torrential waters that have not stopped throughout the day.

Since Friday, the country has been suffering from heavy downpours, electrical storms and gusts of wind associated with a tropical disturbance over the eastern portion of Cubalinked to a trough at various levels of the atmosphere and the National Meteorological Office (Onamet) expects the rainfall to continue in the coming hours and move to the northeast of the country.