Hurricane David did massive damage to homes, vegetation, and the electrical distribution system, all along the entire south coast. Immediately after the hurricane, as a mid-level government official, I travelled the entire length of the south coast, and saw thousands of people taking refuge in the few buildings that had withstood the winds, including about two to three hundred people huddled inside an old church near the town of Palmar de Ocoa, Baní. Everyone there was in good spirits, however, they asked me to arrange for an urgent delivery of drinking water and food. Upon returning to Santo Domingo, tropical storm Frederick struck, causing massive flooding that destroyed the entire highway and road infrastructure of the south coast, including all bridges. Days later, I learned that the people I had visited taking refuge inside the church in Palmar de Ocoa had been swept away when a nearby riverbed suddenly surged into a raging torrent.
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