One week after Hurricane Fiona passed through the Dominican Republic, authorities estimate that the damage caused is in the region of RD$20 billion (US$375 million).
The category 1 hurricane penetrated Punta Cana early Monday morning, September 19, with a maximum sustained wind speed of 80 kilometers per hour with gusts of 100 kilometers per hour, leaving two people dead and heavy damage to property.
During its passage, the electrical system and drinking water service were affected, 28 communities were cut off, and 43,540 people were displaced and flooded.
According to the latest preliminary report presented by the Emergency Operations Center (COE), 8,708 houses were affected, and 2,262 were destroyed.
DRINKING WATER AND ELECTRICITY SERVICES
As for drinking water services, 1,065,524 users were affected. The Government announced that service had been restored to more than 91%.
“A total of 67 aqueducts were back in operation, and only 14 aqueducts remain to be restored”, highlighted government authorities.
Meanwhile, it was reported that more than 97% of the energy service had been recovered.
A total of 770,560 users of Empresa Distribuidora de Electricidad del Este (Edeeste) were affected, of which more than 97%, a total of 748,259 customers, have had their service re-established. There are still 22,301 customers affected.
Likewise, Empresa Distribuidora de Electricidad del Norte (Edenorte) restored 99.9% of service to its customers. Some 229,194 customers and 869 customers are still to be reconnected.
UNQUANTIFIED DAMAGES
Although the total damages to the country’s productive sector have not been quantified, President Luis Abinader said that in the next few days, measures in favor of the agricultural sector would be announced to recover production and farms.
Concerning commerce, the president said that small businesses that have suffered would be identified to help them directly and benefit from loans.
International donation
The president said that the State has the necessary resources to return the impacted areas to normality and that a donation was received from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), even though he did not specify the amount.
TOURISM
Another sector in which the authorities and business people have not specified the amount of the losses is the tourism sector, the communities of the East of the Dominican Republic that have greater reception of tourists and where it hit the hardest.
When questioned about the consequences for the tourism sector, Minister David Collado responded that, despite the passage of Hurricane Fiona, September will be the best month in the history of the country and will again break records, “surpassing for the first time the barrier of 400,000 foreigners in September”.
With information from Bloomberg