The death toll in the Dominican Republic has risen to 30 after flooding caused by heavy rain last weekend, according to local media reports on Thursday.
More than 7,400 homes and houses were damaged and 22 destroyed, as the newspaper “Diario Libre” and other media reported, citing new figures from the civil protection authority COE.
More than 37,000 people were forced to leave their homes and flee to safety.
Last Saturday, the rain caused part of a wall along a road in the capital Santo Domingo to fall on several cars, and there was severe flooding in several areas of the Caribbean state.
President Luis Abinader spoke of the heaviest rainfall in the history of the country, which is popular with holidaymakers and shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
“Climate change is costing the Dominican Republic dearly,” Abinader said during a news conference.
“We have to prepare ourselves. It’s going to happen again,” he said, adding: “Climate change is real.
