OCHA Situation Report No. 8
Dominican Republic: Tropical Storm
18 November 2007


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

This situation report is based on information received from United
Nations Resident Coordinators in country and OCHA Regional Office in
Panama.

HIGHLIGHTS

- Remainders of a low pressure cause rain in most of the country.
- Approximately USD 22.2 million in losses in the agricultural sector.


SITUATION

1. Weather conditions: The National Office of Meteorology (ONAMET)
reports that remainders of the low pressure system that impacted the
Dominican Republic remain over most of the country, increasing
cloudiness and causing light rains in the provinces of Saman=E1, Hato
Mayor, Monte Plata, El Seibo and La Altagracia.

2. Forecast for the next two days: ONAMET forecasts that rains will
continue for the next 24 to 48 hours in most of the country, principally
in the regions of Norte, Noreste, Este, Sureste and Valle del Cibao.

3. Affected area: On 13 November, there were floods in La Altagracia and
El Bajo Yuna due to heavy rainfall, which forced the evacuation of 668
people living in 167 homes. The Emergency Operations Center {Centro de
Operaciones de Emergencia (COE)} maintains a red alert for 10 provinces,
yellow for 19 and in two alerts were removed.

Impact:

|------------------------+---------------------------------|
|   National Emergency   |                                 |
| Commission / Comision  |                                 |
| Nacional de Emergencia |                                 |
|         (CNE)          |                                 |
|      Bulletin 28       |                                 |
|     (06:00 PM of       |                                 |
|   13 November 2007)    |                                 |
|------------------------+---------------------------------|
|Deaths                  |                 87.             |
|------------------------+---------------------------------|
|Disappeared             |                 42.             |
|------------------------+---------------------------------|
|Displaced people        |In shelters: 7,620               |
|                        |Staying with relatives, friends: |
|                        |42,272                           |
|                        |TOTAL: 49,892                    |
|------------------------+---------------------------------|
|Affected homes          |Slight damage: 7,782             |
|                        |Severe damage: 1,506             |
|                        |Destroyed: 3,185                 |
|                        |TOTAL: 12,473                    |
|------------------------+---------------------------------|
|Shelters in operation   |                 64.             |
|------------------------+---------------------------------|
|Cut-off communities     |                 95.             |
|------------------------+---------------------------------|


Health, water and sanitation

4. According to PAHO/WHO, there are still 30 water systems which need to
be rehabilitated and water supplies are provided through water trucks
and donated tanks located in shelters and affected zones.  Nonetheless,
there are communities in Villa Altagracia province which have received
no water and where there are food distribution problems.

5. In Pedro Brand municipality, in Santo Domingo province, wells are
being excavated to sustain local populations with potable water.

Food security and nutrition

6. Farmer and cattle rancher organizations in Cibao and Southeast affirm
and the government fund of 1.6 billion pesos (approximately USD
47.8million) are insufficient to resolve the serious problems faced by
agricultural producers in the country, for which they are requesting
that the debts of affected producers be pardoned.  Losses are estimated
at 2.6 billion pesos (approximately USD 77.7 million).

Attachments:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/retrieveattachments?openagent&docid=55E26A4D52625418C1257396008206D0&file=Full_Report.pdf

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