Tropical Storms cause RD1 billion in damages to Dominican Republic

Although the North Coast was relatively unaffected by the recent tropical storms, countrywide they have caused more than RD$1.1 billion in damages to the infrastructure and agriculture of the Dominican Republic.
The quick succession of Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike wreaked havoc throughout the Caribbean and parts of the Americas with the DR coming off lighter than some.
The Government has created a RD$300 million fund to attend to the damage, and a further RD$100 million to assist with necessaries such as food, mattresses, mosquito nets, blankets and hygiene utensils for those worst affected by the storms.
Latest figures indicate that Ike and Hanna caused RD$620 million in damages to road infrastructure, affecting 36 highways, 12 local roads, 12 bridges, 8 drains, two sewage systems and three communities flooded by the heavy rains, and destroyed more than 125 houses.
115 kilometers of roads have been damaged which has had the effect of cutting off at least 81 communities, reports the Presidency’s Press director Rafael Núñez in a press conference, adding that the storms and Hurricane Ike caused about RD$500 million in losses to farms.