Hurricane Irma caused little damage in the DR

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - In Brief 09 Sep 2017 by Pavel Isa

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Hurricane Irma caused little damage in the DR, mostly in the North Coast. The reason is that its eye, where maximum wind speed is registered (175 mph), passed nearly 75 miles off the coast. Damage was mostly caused by floods by sea waves. Although tourist areas were hit, hotels and facilities were not significantly affected. In fact, it has been reported that Punta Cana International Airport, with more than 60% of total tourist arrivals, operated with total normality and no arriving or departing flight was cancelled. Here are the numbers: less than 20 thousand persons evacuated, of whom less than 8,000 were sheltered, a bit more than 2,000 houses affected, 113 houses destroyed. Public opinion praises the performance of institutions in charge of prevention and aid such as the National Meteorological Office, the Emergency Operations Center, the Civil Defense, the Dominican Red Cross, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Public Works, the National Police and the Armed Forces. It seems they articulated and coordinated their work in an effective way.