SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) – Parts of the Dominican Republic were on high alert on Sunday for possible landslides and flooding after heavy rains the day before displaced thousands and killed at least nine people.
Fourteen provinces are on red alert, the Caribbean country’s Emergency Operations Center (COE) said in a report on Sunday morning.
Nine people died on Saturday after rains caused the wall of a highway tunnel to collapse onto their cars, the National Police said.
Authorities have not yet provided a tally of all victims, but local media has reported more victims than the nine killed by the wall collapse.
Videos on social media showed rushing water dragging cars down streets and flooded ground floors of buildings.
The rains forced 8,000 people to move to safer areas, and over 1,500 homes had been impacted by the storm, the COE said.
Twenty-nine communities were without communication as of Sunday morning, according to the COE report.
(Reporting by Paul Mathiasen; Writing by Brendan O’Boyle; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
