Attachments
Summary:
This update provides an overview on Dominican Red Cross (DRC) actions for the first 1 month. Appeal coverage at the time of writing is 13%, donors are encouraged to support the appeal to enable DRC provide assistance to the targeted beneficiaries through the planned activities as detailed in the Emergency Plan of Action (EPoA). A DREF loan of 240,000 Swiss francs was processed at the beginning of the Appeal to support the start-up of activities by DRC.
A. Situation analysis
Description of the disaster Following the passage of Hurricane Matthew, the Dominican Republic was affected by a series of hydrometeorological events, which saturated the soil. Due to the adverse effects from the recent weeks’ heavy rainfall in the Central and Northern Cibao regions of the country, which caused the displacement of vulnerable populations and cut off various communities, the Dominican Republic’s president declared a national emergency for the provinces of Puerto Plata, La Vega,
Espaillat and María Trinidad Sánchez on 10 November 2016 in order to expedite procurement and hiring processes.
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. The main tourist road connecting the provinces of Puerto Plata and Espaillat and the road connecting the tourist towns of Samaná and Las Terrenas was also damaged.
Approximately 132 communities in the provinces of La Vega, Puerto Plata, María Trinidad Sánchez and Espaillat have been cut off by the flooding, 13 bridges were damaged and 3 of the main roads that connect with the touristic municipalities of Las Terrenas (the Limón Road that connects with Sánchez and Samaná), Gaspar Hernández (the road that connects Gaspar Hernández with Río San Juan and Nagua) and Luperón (the road that connects Luperón with Puerto Plata) were damaged; additionally, the road that connects Jamao with Sabaneta de Yasica was blocked due to a damaged bridge.
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.
The overflowing of the Yuna River and its tributaries caused traffic delays on the North-east highway, which connects Santo Domingo with the Atlantic tourist zone in the provinces of Samaná and María Trinidad Sánchez; it also affected the communities of Los Peinados, Los Contreras, Los Rieles, Reforma, Aguacate, Callejón de Tilo, Las Garzas, where the flooding caused significant damage to their rice crop.
Summary of the current response
Overview of Host National Society
The Dominican Red Cross has been coordinating with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)’s country cluster support office in Haiti; and the Spanish Red Cross’s office in the Dominican. The National Society has maintained contact with the IFRC’s Disasters and Crisis department coordinator for the Americas since the beginning of the emergency.
The Dominican Red Cross continues working with flood-affected communities through the activation of its branches and its communication networks, which play a fundamental role in disaster management at the community level. The DRC jointly coordinates the networks with institutions from the National Disaster Management System.
The recession of the floodwaters allowed the Dominican Red Cross to begin conducting assessments, the affected families to return to their homes and the volunteers to access the affected communities.
All of the sectors are developing plans for the distributions, health actions and vector control, among other humanitarian interventions.
Overview of Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in country
Moreover, the IFRC mobilized its operations coordinator to Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic on 17 November 2016 as part of a technical team supporting the field assessments (Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis [DANA]) and the development of the plan of action. Lastly, IFRC deployed a Regional Intervention Team (RIT) member, who also helped develop this Operations Update, to the country on 29 November 2016 to assist with the operation.
Overview of non-RCRC actors in country
The President of the Dominican Republic declared a national emergency in the provinces of Puerto Plata, La Vega, Espaillat and Maria Trinidad Sánchez through Decree 340-16.
The Ministry of Health requested support from the DRC on a Leptospirosis outbreak, which responded by deploying its health teams to the affected areas to conduct a detailed evaluation and develop a plan of action.
The National Meteorological Office (ONAMET for its acronym in Spanish) issued an alert for the Atlantic coast urging small to medium vessels to stay in port and recommending that vessels in Samana and Caribbean Bay navigate with caution; this alert is due to increased wave action and unusual activity.