Santo Domingo.-The lessons learned in the past have taught governments to apply preventive measures in the face of alerts and unforeseen effects of nature.
Last night, President Luis Abinader evaluated a series of actions that his government is carrying out through the Emergency Operations Center (COE) and the 22 institutions that comprise it, due to the different atmospheric events that are approaching and given the forecast that November It will be a month of a lot of rain.
The head of state invited the director of the Dominican Institute of Meteorology (Indomet), Gloria Ceballos, to explain the climate situation.
The official pointed out that they have been monitoring for several days the evolution of two tropical systems: one, which until yesterday afternoon was tropical depression number 18 and which last night became Tropical Storm Rafael, and a tropical disturbance on the Atlantic coast. .
“We will maintain continuous surveillance because the cloud field that accompanies Storm Rafael, which could become a hurricane, is generating significant rains in the national territory, especially today in the morning and in the afternoon-night on the Caribbean coast, in the Central mountain range, in the border area, and we are very attentive,” he said.
Ceballos specified that, in addition to this forecast, an atmospheric disturbance continues over the southwest and north region that degenerated into a trough, which caused accumulated rainfall of more than 180 millimeters, specifically in the province of Dajabón.
Also, these precipitations generated significant accumulations in the provinces of María Trinidad Sánchez, Puerto Plata, Barahona, Azua, San Cristóbal, La Altagracia and La Romana.
Much caution
President Luis Abinader stated that they are taking these events very seriously and with caution.
“We already have new radars that also help us with weather prediction.
These are events that, as has been shown, not only here in the Dominican Republic, but throughout the world, are difficult to foresee.”
He recalled what happened in Valencia, Spain, where 215 people have died due to the recent storm. Regarding the Dominicans residing in that country, President Abinader indicated: “Those affected are being helped with furniture and equipment, but so far there have been no Dominicans injured or killed.”
Likewise, he expressed his condolences to the Kingdom of Spain, to the King and also to the President, through diplomatic channels.
New technology
In La Semanal con la Prensa, the update of the action protocols to improve precision and speed in the face of extreme weather events was also presented.
The director of the Emergency Operations Center (COE), General (R) Juan Manuel Méndez, said that the president has instructed the updating of action protocols to improve the precision and speed of alerts in the event of extreme weather events.
This is what one of the flooded homes in Dajabón looks like.
He indicated that, with the collaboration of the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel) and other organizations, work is being done to put into operation an advanced notification tool called Cell Broadcast Service.
This technology, widely used, will allow alerts to be focused and disseminated in a more agile and precise way, addressing the growing need to notify in real time due to the sudden nature of phenomena such as heavy rains and floods.
This innovation, he highlighted, will place the country at the forefront in the region, significantly improving the capacity to respond to climate emergencies.
In that order, President Abinader pointed out that they have been working together with the COE and other technicians on a special alarm that will allow alerts to be issued with greater precision.
He explained that few countries have this advanced technology and that, thanks to the radars installed in Santo Domingo and Santiago, alerts can be issued within approximately one hour for events that require a special level of alert.
Other novelties presented at the meeting was the new DO Alert application, which will allow capturing and viewing georeferenced information on infrastructures and events in real time.
The director of Civil Defense, Juan Cesario Salas Rosario, explained that this mobile application facilitates decisions in prevention, mitigation, response and recovery from disasters.
He said users can report events such as falling trees, landslides and flooding, notifying other nearby users.
Also, notifications will be sent to groups of users based on their registered location, which will be useful in local emergencies.
Likewise, it includes preparation tips and recommendations depending on the type of event.
Salas Rosario indicated that the Government will continue to strengthen and innovate its response capacity. To this end, they will soon make the DO Alert app available to the population, which will guarantee timely assistance to affected areas or areas in an emergency situation.
Coordination
— The committees
Carolina Mejía, mayor of the National District, said that they are working in each of the territories and have an active Mitigation and Prevention Committee, where everyone coordinates with the great team they have.
Rains mobilize hundreds of people
Report. President Luis Abinader spoke of report number six of the COE, citing that some 1,390 people were mobilized, and that all have already been returned to their homes.
In addition, nine communities are cut off, 278 homes affected and 7 landslides occurred.
Likewise, 13 aqueducts are out of service and an electrical circuit is affected.
The President repeated that they are prepared for any eventuality, that they have 2,800 shelters to house more than half a million people and more than 40 thousand first responders.
The director of the COE reiterated his call to the population to be attentive to the information offered by the organization, since, at the time of the information, there were 12 provinces on yellow alert.
