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Dominican Republic: Floods and Landslides - Nov 2016

Disaster description

Heavy rains continue to affect the country, causing flooding in several provinces already affected by the rains of last week. On 11 November, an Emergency Declaration for the provinces of Puerto Plata, La Vega, Espaillat and María Trinidad Sánchez was released. 17 provinces are on alert, six of which on red alert. Evacuations are taking place and the Ministry of Education suspended classes in these provinces. 20 135 displaced people are being hosted by their communities and 294 people are officially housed in three shelters. 4 089 houses are damaged, 50 have been totally destroyed and a total of 131 communities are isolated. (ECHO, 15 Nov 2016)

The IFRC launched an emergency appeal of 2,459,751 Swiss francs to support the Dominican Red Cross to deliver assistance and support to some 25,000 people (5,000 families) for 12 months. (IFRC, 24 Nov 2016)

According to preliminary reports, 20,055 people have been moved to safe places with relatives and friends since 10 November 2016. Approximately 4,200 homes were affected, 60 were destroyed and 234 people are still seeking shelter in the 4 official collective centres in the provinces of Puerto Plata, La Vega and Nagua. Due to increased water levels caused by the heavy rainfall, the Dams Committee was forced to release water from the Tavera Dam in the province of Santiago to prevent it from bursting; the release of water flooded some of the communities in the provinces of Santiago, Valverde and Montecristi.(IFRC, 29 Dec 2016)

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