Tropical Storm Noel tears through D.R.

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – The morning of October 28 was unusually rainy for a tropical Caribbean country, but most Dominicans didn’t question it. The wind was cool and refreshing, weather that’s always welcomed in the muggy city of Santo Domingo.

However, by 4 p.m. the same day, the rain strengthened, banging down like pellets on the roofs. The wind hissed through windows as shutters rattled against one another.

By 9 p.m., a merely rainy day had developed into a full-fledged tropical storm by the name of Noel, and satellite pictures showed billows of clouds enveloping the entire island.

It wasn’t until November 2, five days later, that the storm finally passed, leaving in its wake a developing country that was now battered and its people in shock. With a death toll of 85 and rising, nearly 48 people missing, and 66,608 displaced, the Dominican Republic will have to find a way to recover.

Schools opened once again on Thursday to roads cleared of felled trees, but the storm had taken its toll on the city roads and has left crater-like potholes. Several schools have joined in the effort to collect clothing and food for those left homeless, while the government has begun to deliver vaccines and matresses. President Leonel Fernandez toured the country to survey the damage on Wednesday, October 31st.

"Weather conditions appear to be improving and we plan to take advantage of this to relocate the people living in the shadow of the dams and who are in a position of great vulnerability," Luis Luna Paulino,the director of Civil Defense, told the press.

The National Commision of Emergencies has been alerting the people as to the number of deaths and missing or displaced people. The agency also reported that 90 villages have been cut off and residents have no way to enter or leave them.

The damage done to farms has already begun to show, with fewer greens available in supermarkets and water shut off for a period of three days. Citizens fear inflation of prices and the spread of disease from dead livestock and the garbage swept up from streets. The government is currently fumigating to control an expected outbreak of dengue fever, a disease spread by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is willing to donate US $200,000 to relief efforts, and other multinational organizations are loaning money and donating supplies.Victor Diaz Rua, the minister of Public Works, says that US $1.2 billion worth of damage has occured, and President Fernandez has put the country under a state of emergency and issued requests for international help.

In the meantime, Dominicans are asking why the country was so unprepared for the storm's arrival and why there were no warnings. "It came without notice," said Moises Bello, 17. "For people without Internet or other sources of global communication, this came as a total surprise. There was no source of news, and the government didn'tmention much. Nothing was done to alert the people."

Some expect that elections coming in May could prompt competing candidates for president to point fingers, exploit the goverment's missteps, or otherwise play to the voters by publicizing their own efforts to assist those in need.

The storm has finally passed, but Noel leaves behind it an aftermath that is still playing out.