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Lluvia intensa sobre una calle caribeña inundada, con palmeras inclinadas bajo un cielo gris y edificios de colores a ambos lados

Dominican Republic keeps 25 areas on alert for rain this Friday

The COE and Indomet keep 25 areas on alert for trough rains this Friday the 23rd, with nine districts on yellow and 16 on green, a risk of flooding and swollen…

--- The context --- The Dominican Republic faces a rainy Friday the 23rd as a trough brings showers across much of the country. The Emergency Operations Center and the Dominican Institute of Meteorology maintain preventive measures against moderate to heavy downpours, electrical storms and gusts of wind. --- The facts --- According to both agencies, 25 areas remain on alert in total: nine districts on yellow alert and another 16 on green alert. The count includes 24 provinces and the National District, presented as 25 areas under preventive measures because of urban and rural flooding, swollen rivers, streams and gullies, and landslides. The yellow alert covers Greater Santo Domingo, the National District, Puerto Plata, Pedernales, Independencia, Bahoruco, Barahona, Espaillat and Santiago. The green alert applies to San Cristóbal, Monseñor Nouel, La Vega, San Pedro de Macorís, Dajabón, San José de Ocoa and Valverde, among other provinces on the official COE map. Meteorologist Tamaris Mercedes, of the National Forecast Center at Indomet, indicated that rainfall would concentrate during the morning along the Caribbean coastal shore, most likely in Greater Santo Domingo, Peravia, La Romana, La Altagracia, Azua, Barahona and Pedernales, and that activity would later extend during the afternoon and the early hours of the night. --- The positions --- The COE explained that the wider alerts respond to a trough at several levels of the troposphere and to an air mass with high moisture content, which favor cloud formation and rainfall. The agency also cited the combined effect of the trough, the warm wind from the southeast and the moisture present over the country. Mercedes noted that moderate to heavy downpours, electrical storms and gusts could later be recorded in the southwest and southeast, the Central Mountain Range and the border zone, with exposed localities including Monte Plata, San Cristóbal, Monseñor Nouel, La Vega, San Juan de la Maguana, Elías Piña and Valverde. The COE recommended that people not cross flooded streets, rivers, streams or gullies with high levels, nor walk through currents that reach their knees. It asked drivers to reduce speed, turn on their lights and keep a prudent distance, not leave trash that could block drains, remove items from roofs and balconies, stay away from poles and electrical cables, and follow official bulletins. --- What remains unknown --- It is not yet known how the trough will evolve beyond this day, whether the alerts will change in the next updates, or the concrete reach of possible swollen waters or landslides. --- Unanswered questions --- Will the alerts remain in place throughout Friday the 23rd? Which districts will concentrate the most intense rainfall during the afternoon and night? How will urban drains respond if the downpours persist over Greater Santo Domingo? --- EPM analysis --- Indomet reported that maritime conditions will be normal along both coasts, with caution for small and medium vessels southwest of Pedernales because of downpours, electrical storms and reduced visibility. Officials do not describe a generalized extreme scenario, but a day of extended caution. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, a broad alert only protects people when it becomes concrete care in every neighborhood and every rural community exposed to flooding and swollen streams. Listening to the COE and Indomet, avoiding dangerous crossings and keeping drains clear are simple steps that prevent avoidable harm and protect the most exposed families. Prevention works when institutions communicate clearly, when neighbors look after one another, and when nobody underestimates a current that looks manageable during the hours of heaviest expected rain today.
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