The US National Hurricane Center officially announced the ninth storm of the hurricane season, which was later named Isaiah. It brought with it maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometers per hour. The Dominican Republic’s National Weather Bureau (Onamet) tracked Isaiah's entry on Thursday 30 July. Heavy rain had already begun earlier in the morning, hitting mostly the eastern part of the country.
According to DR’s Center of Emergency Operations’ (COE) report of 31 July, the center of Tropical Storm Isaiah was moved away from the Dominican Republic, leaving eight provinces on red alert status, 16 on yellow alert and eight provinces on green alert, for possible urban and rural flash flooding, flooding of rivers, streams and ravines, as well as landslides. Nationwide, 1042 homes have been affected, 165 homes have been partially affected, and 5295 families have been evacuated. The Ministry of Public Works continues to remove trees and debris that fell across the roads in the Miches, Bávaro, Nagua and Samaná sections.
COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating further existing poverty levels: sources of income might be lost due to the inability of generating income or loss of contractual jobs. With the hurricane season falling amidst COVID, affected areas will likely face unprecedented challenges in responding to potential natural disasters.
The affected population includes:
- 21,000 people affected approximately in Hato Mayor & El Seibo Provinces (5,295 families evacuated). Children under 15 represent 56% of those affected.
- 1,742 houses totally or partially destructed
- The Ministry of Education is still evaluating damage to schools.
- 2 deaths
- 2 million people without drinkable water service
- 23 isolated municipalities
Capacity of families to cover their basic needs is affected due to the loss of homes and supplies and exacerbated by the economic crisis generated by COVID 19. Similarly, access to water has been interrupted for 1.2 million people, with potential consequences on the prevention of COVID 19 and on dengue prevention (stagnation of water, informal collection of water for consumption) and on leptospirosis, due to poor water and sanitation conditions.
The health system had already collapsed in its response to COVID-19. With regular services interrupted by the absence of staff, the after-effects of the Hurricane could lead to an increase in other diseases. Maternal mortality has already increased by 27 percent in July, due to the pressure on the health system.
Humanitarian actors in Dominican Republic have the experience, technical capacity (wash, shelter, FSL, protection, GBV, health, nutrition and recovery actions), coordination and advocacy capacity to implement humanitarian response actions. Agencies are also managing funds with other donors and mapping the possibility of funding.
The greatest concern during response and recovery from Tropical Storm Isaiah is outbreaks of respiratory diseases with health systems at capacity. In Dominican Republic, humanitarian actors are working on the design of a shelter adapted to social isolation, based on the model implemented for the care of migrants.
Humanitarian actors have not faced mobility restrictions in the field due to agreements established between the Humanitarian Country Team with the National Government. However, the greatest challenge is the implementation of measures to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 infections amongst staff members of each organization and the risk of contagion to beneficiaries because the local availability of personal protection equipment is limited.
The three most affected provinces by Tropical Storm Isaiah are: Hato Mayor, Monte Plata, and Seibo. The Civil Defense of Hato Mayor reported flooding of the rivers Paña-Paña, rio Magua, Cañada de Los Polancos, which inundated 683 houses and partially affected 162.
The Hato Mayor Fire Department reported that the following 11 communities were flooded due to the overflow of the Magua River and the Paña-Paña Stream: Villa Canto, Hundina, La Marvina, La China, Villa Ortega, Los Cocos, El Pozo, Gualey, Barrio Puerto Rico and Barrio los Genaos.
The Civil Defense of the province of Monte Plata reports inundations in the municipality of Peralvillo, due to the flooding of the Ozama River, affecting the 12 communities of La Gina, Serralle, La cuaba, Penzon, Mateo pico, El Corozo, Los mosquitos, Jaquey, Jagua Mocha, El Zapote, El Vigía and La Piña.
The Civil Defense of Seibo reported that due to the flooding of the Seibo River, the communities of La Cuchilla, Arroyo Grande, Piedra Blanca, Arroyo tabaco, Las 2 Bocas, Arroyo Mateo and El Cabao.
Tropical Storm Isaiah is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane and hit the Carolinas on Monday night or Tuesday morning before traveling up the US East Coast, according to the National Hurricane Center.
A hurricane warning has been issued for parts of South Carolina and North Carolina, and surges could reach five feet. After landfall, Isaiah is forecast to gradually weaken, but the storm is expected to bring strong winds all along the East Coast for the next day.