Seven days after the floods of April 8 that hit a large part of the Santo Domingo province, in the municipality Santo Domingo West, Even the community members struggle to recover what the water took away, clinging to the expectation that help from the Government will arrive.
The streets of the neighborhoods in that district show the consequences of the downpours. They take advantage of the sun’s rays to dry clothes, shoes, mattresses, furniture and other belongings.
Wet mattresses are placed in the Hato Nuevo sector, in Manoguayabo, after intense rains that caused flooding.
While damaged refrigerators, radios and televisions are out in the open on some sidewalks, due to the unprecedented rains that wreaked havoc with the flooding of ravines and the Lebron River, which left them in precarious conditions.
This reality of life was confirmed by a team from Daily List after a visit by The Alcarrizos, New Herd, New Dawn, ManoguayaboE.l Gateand sectors surrounding the Lebron River.
“We are sleeping on the floor. We are still recovering our belongings because the flood was terrible, that’s why I have beds and shoes drying,” said Isabel Peña, who lives in Residencial Brugal, in the Hato Nuevo sector, in Manoguayabo, with nostalgia.
Despite the situation he faces today, he emotionally evokes gratitude and affirms his faith in God.
“Thank God we are alive, because many people drowned in other places, but we are here,” he said.
However, he criticized the Government for not sending support or safety mechanisms to those affected in his sector during the rains and subsequent floods.
“In my six years living in this sector, the houses here have flooded for the second time, that is why we want the Government to visit us and the authorities because they have not yet come,” he told this newspaper.
Likewise, he points out that the main cause of the water being stagnant is due to the flooding of the sector’s ravine.
GOVERNMENT aid
During the tour of the municipality of Santo Domingo Westthe only place where government aid and promises of new trousseau were found was in the sector New Dawnat kilometer 18 of the Duarte highway.
Residents in the Nuevo Amanecer sector waiting for their lunch from the Economic Dining Room.
There, after 11:45 in the morning, residents were seen lining up waiting for the food ration provided by the Economic Kitchen.
Adjacent to the station Economic Dining Room Cayetana Polanco, 71 years old, resides. After looking for lunch, a Moor of red beans with pork prepared to spread copies of birth certificates, identification cards and property title documentation on a stone so that they could dry in the sun.
“The water rose to my knees. Everything got wet, the bed, the dishes, and there is still mud and garbage in the yard,” the housewife expressed with concern.
He describes the flooding due to the intense rains last Wednesday as something that has never happened before in the 26 years he has lived in that sector.
Today, Cayetana Polanco sleeps on a mattress raised by four building block on each side, because the wooden base of the bed deteriorated and he threw it away.
He indicated that so far the help that the sector has received is food rations from the Government, but he hopes that in the coming days the authorities will arrive with beds and trousseau for the neighbors.
“They promised that they would give beds, mattresses and appliances to all of us neighbors who suffered flooding due to the rains, so we just have to wait,” he said.
Wall collapse
Among the damages confirmed, this newspaper showed the collapse of a section of product in “El Portón”, a small sector behind Los Americanos in The Alcarrizos.
Children move on foot near a section of collapsed wall in the El Portón sector, in Los Alcarrizos.
“The water entered all the houses while we were sleeping and we were scared by the thunder,” said Mayra Hernández, 34, who lost her dishes due to the rain.
The housewife says that, when she woke up, all the neighbors saw the collapse of that part of the wall.
“We are asking for the president’s help, because no authority has arrived here,” cries out for a solution, the housewife, mother of six minor children.
Through a statement, the Government reported that some 280 million pesos have already been tendered to continue the work with the affected families in Santo Domingo Oeste.
“1,800 families were affected here in Nuevo Amanecer alone; in La Islita, 300 families; in Brisa del Lebron, 1,250; 47 in La Fe, and between 25 and 30 families in general,” the government message states.
