The powerful Hurricane Matthew, category 4 (in the Saffir-Simpson Scale), hit Dominican Republic on October 4th, leaving 4 people dead, 22,745 evacuated and more than 2,398 houses damaged. The heavy rains caused rivers to overflow, widespread floods and landslides, destruction of agricultural crops, houses, bridges and basic services facilities like electricity, communication and drinking water.
Up to date, 11,853 people remain evacuated and the alerts have dropped to yellow but in the meantime the official institutions are receiving more damages reports on rural flooding, overflowing of rivers, streams and creeks, as well as landslides.
Relevant national agencies from the government are taking care of raising the awareness of the population, and conducting evacuations in vulnerable areas as well as road rehabilitation. Now, there is a great risk that a large number of people can become affected by diseases due to the large amount of mud and contamination from the poor sanitary conditions left by the hurricane in the overcrowded locations where people remain in shelters.
