Dominican Republic Floods

Overview

Beginning on April 8, 2026, a slow-moving low-pressure trough anchored over Hispaniola dumped torrential rain, hail, and wind across the Dominican Republic, causing widespread flash flooding, landslides, and river overflows. By April 15, authorities confirmed at least four deaths, including a seven-year-old girl swept away while crossing a river, a 19-year-old man who attempted to cross on horseback, and an infant whose home collapsed in the capital. More than 30,000 people have been evacuated or displaced, over 6,000 homes damaged, and access to drinking water disrupted for more than 1 million residents as treatment plants were knocked offline by turbidity and power loss. Twenty-eight of the country's 32 provinces were placed under red or yellow alert, and 28 communities were completely cut off by washed-out roads and bridges. The Presidential Emergency Operations Center (COE) activated the National Emergency Plan, and President Luis Abinader mobilized armed forces, civil defense teams, and public utility crews for rescue, shelter, and water restoration operations. The Dominican Red Cross, with support from the IFRC's Disaster Response Emergency Fund, is leading damage assessments, evacuations, and the distribution of emergency water, hygiene items, and shelter kits across the hardest-hit provinces in the Cibao, Greater Santo Domingo, and eastern regions.