When it rains, it pours.

1. Macabre tragedy near Jimani
The National Emergency Commission (CNE) now confirms in its Bulletin No. 5 that the official death toll due to this weekend’s flooding is greater than the 104 bodies found as of noontime, including adults and children, both Haitians and Dominicans. El Caribe newspaper reports that 95 of the fatalities occurred at around 2:30am on Monday, when the mud-filled waters of the Silie River that starts in Haiti crushed the community of La Cuarenta, in the impoverished province of Independencia, and swallowed up many homes. The massive wall of water downriver is expected to have killed many more of the dwellers who had moved into the valley when the river dried up. The scenes are similar to those witnessed in the aftermath of Hurricane George, when flooding led to tragedy in the southwestern town of Mesopotamia, where more than 400 people similarly perished.
Torrential rains fell this Sunday across the country caused by the passage of a tropical wave. Hoy newspaper says that 250 individuals are still missing, and 122 are injured. The authorities evacuated 11,975 persons and rescued another 2,600 persons.
The tragedy could repeat itself again this year, given that the La Nina phenomenon has replaced El Nino. Erosion and deforestation has caused the desiccation of many rivers and consequent building of communities in those valleys, making them target areas for a repeat of the tragic flooding scenes.
El Caribe reports that the provincial governor of Independencia, Tito Herasme, says some 200 dwellings have been destroyed and another 500 severely damaged. The destruction was caused after the region was affected by 247.8mm of heavy rains that fell on Sunday as the product of the large tropical wave. La Cuarenta mayor Janil Matos says the area has been isolated by the disaster, as it was left without power, potable water, or telephone lines. The regional hospital General Melenciano of Jimani has become an impromptu morgue. Bodies that have not been identified as of today will be buried in a communal grave. A state of emergency has been declared in the area of Jimani.
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