<!-- Start of picture text --> Box 1.7: Impact of Hurricane Georges: The Case of the Dominican Republic<br><!-- End of picture text --> Hurricane Georges passed over the Dominican Republic in September 1998 as a category 3 hurricane with winds reaching 130 miles per hour. The eye of the hurricane entered the southeastem portion of the country **in** the moming, traversed the country at approximately 6 mph on a northwest path and arrved at the border with Haiti m the evening, downgraded to category 1. The destructive winds destroyed housing, agricultural and industrial infrastructure, uprooted trees and destroyed crops, mainly in the eastem part of the country. The heavy rain was centered in the southem and southwestem areas of the country and led to floods and rivers overflowing with water and mud, which destroyed bridges, homes, and household and farming equipment; damaged roads, schools, health clinics and water supply systems; and washed away crops, including sugarcane, bananas, yucca, coffee and vegetables. Because of its diameter, the hurricane affected at least 70 percent of the country, equivalent to 34,000 square kilometers. The areas most affected were the eastem and southem portions of the country, including some important urban areas such as La Romana, San Pedro de Macoris, Santo Domingo and San Juan de la Maguana. Some of the principal tourist enclaves **in** the southeast were badly damaged, as well as cntical agricultural zones, such as the fertile San Juan valley and Cibao valley. The death toll stood at 235.

# **Economic and Social Impact**

A team from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) visited the Dominican Republic in the second half of October and estimated the total cost of direct damages at US$1.3 billion (8 percent of GDP). While the adverse impact of the hurricane on GDP growth and inflation was **limited,** the economic recovery led to a temporary widening of the fiscal and extemal current account deficits, largely reflecting increased spending on (mostly imported) basic needs and reconstruction materials.

- **Agriculture:** The most important sector of the economy, agnculture accounts for 16 percent of GDP. It sustained the greatest damage, from the winds that uprooted trees and plants and destroyed infrastructure, and the rains that caused the rivers, particularly **in** the south/southwest regions, to overflow, flood fields and destroy cultivated land. One third of all cultivated land was affected. The crops grown for intemal consumption were the most affected, particularly bananas and com. Total damages in the sector, including livestock and fishenes, were estimated at US$527 million.

- e **Transport:** The heavy rains caused serious damage to highways, roads and bridges. 20 percent of highways were affected, and 40 percent of local roads. 112 bridges were damaged, 55 of them destroyed. Total damages in the sector, including ports and airports, were estimated at US$292 million.

- *** Housing:** The wind destroyed roofs, windows and extemal installations, and the rains flooded many homes. The most affected provinces have some of the highest concentrations of poor in the country: Santo Domingo, Monsenor Nouel, San Juan de la Maguana and San Pedro de Macoris. A total of 171,000 of houses, or 10 percent of the total, were affected, while 49,000 houses, or 3 percent of the total, were completely destroyed. Total damages were estimated at US$232 million.

- * **Tourism:** The greatest damages were sustained in La Romana, La Altagracia and Juan Dolio. A total of 6,000 rooms were affected, at a estimated cost of US$149 mullion.

- o Electricity: Transmission and distribution networks sustained the greatest damages, pnmanly in the eastem part of the country. Total damages were estimated at US$46 million.

- * **Education:** 1,334 schools (28 percent of the total number of schools) were affected by the hurricane, of which 203 (4 percent of the total) were completely destroyed. As 443 of the largest schools were used as refuges for the homeless, the school year started several weeks late for close to 100,000 students. Total damages in the sector, which includes sports and recreational facilities, were estimated at US$69 million.

- **Health:** Damages in physical infrastructure were moderate - US$2 million in buildings and US$4 million in furmiture and equipment; the regions most affected were Santo Domingo, La Altagracia, San Pedro de Macoris and La Romana. The indirect cost of attending to emergency needs, estimated at US$17 million, has made the greatest impact on the sector, as the lack of running water, food and medicine and accumulation of solid wastes resulting in water pollution, increased the incidence of infectious diseases.

- * **Water & Sanitation:** As a consequence of flooding, the sector was adversely affected by damaged electricity lines, water **mains** and treatment plants, wells, access roads, distribution networks, windmnlls and emergency motors. Total damages were estimated at US$16.4 million.

- * **Irrigation:** The torrential rains damaged canals and electrical infrastructure. Damages were not fully quantified because some areas were **still** inaccessible, but the estimated total so far was US$8.8 million.

Source: Humcane Georges Emergency Recovery Project, World Bank, 1998 23