Code red and flooded houses: The ravages of storm Franklin in the Dominican Republic

Since the early hours of this Wednesday morning, the storm has generated strong winds and rains that have left several areas flooded.

Storm Franklin wreaks havoc this Wednesday in the Dominican Republic, with floods and urban areas flooded by the passage of the strong storm that generates hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall.

Through social networks, local media have released videos showing the first effects that Franklin leaves behind in various provinces of the Caribbean island, including its capital Santo Domingo. The number of people affected is unknown at this time.

Franklin made landfall on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, which integrates the Dominican Republic and Haiti —a country that will also be affected by the storm—, early this Wednesday morning, after entering Dominican territory through the Barahona peninsula.

The storm extends for more than 110 kilometers from its center with winds greater than 85 kilometers per hour. The Dominican authorities expect the storm to cross the middle zone of the country.

For this reason, the Dominican authorities decreed last Monday the alert for the country, which in the last hours includes 25 provinces under red code and seven in yellowbecause the phenomenon is expected to generate, in addition to strong rains and winds, large waves, overflowing of rivers, ravines, floods, avalanches, among other natural disasters.

Juan Mendez Garcia, director of the Emergency Operations Center of the Presidency, reported this Wednesday that the emergency situation remains active, for which he urged the citizens who are in high-risk areas to stay sheltered in safe places.

According to the local media Daily Listinthe hardest-hit localities are Polo and Barahona, with 190 millimeters of rain, San Cristobal with 160 millimeters and in Greater Santo Domingo with more than 150 millimeters. In the affected areas there are reports of downed power lines, trees knocked down by the winds, as well as houses affected by floods and landslides.

Despite the authorities’ call to remain under protection, in the community of Arroyo Bonito, in the province of Manoguayabo, they carry out self-employment to try to drain the water that accumulate in the streets and flood their homes.

One of the residents of that area said to El Dia newspaper that they decided not to wait for the authorities “because the governments do nothing in the neighborhoods, nor are they going to do“. The woman alleges that in the 19 years she has lived in that community, “the same thing always happens” and nobody cares for them, so they have to take money out of their pockets to solve the situation.