On Saturday night, torrential downpours swept across the Dominican Republic’s Puerto Plata province, leaving a trail of widespread destruction that has disrupted communities and cut off critical transportation links. Two major bridge structures sustained serious damage, while rising floodwaters inundated dozens of residential properties across multiple municipalities.
The most critical infrastructure failure occurred on the region’s popular tourist corridor, where the Camú bridge collapsed entirely, trapping residents and cutting off access to the surrounding area. A parallel crisis unfolded in the Altos de la Boca sector of Los Hidalgos, where a second bridge was rendered impassable by flood-driven damage, creating another isolated pocket of the province.
Flooding was not limited to infrastructure damage, with multiple low-lying communities across Villa Montellano registering severe inundation. Neighborhoods including Los Ciruelos, El Tamarindo, Monte Bravo, and the La Maternidad district all reported standing floodwaters that entered residential homes. In one dramatic incident in Monte Bravo, an entire family was forced to climb onto the roof of their flooded property to escape rising waters, where they waited for rescue before being pulled to safety by teams from Amber Rescue.
In the municipality of Imbert, communities along the Bajabonico River including Baraguana, Barrabás, and La Yaguita all saw widespread flooding as the waterway overflowed its banks. The same pattern of river-driven inundation was reported across three additional municipalities: Guananico, Altamira, and Villa Isabela, where dozens of additional homes were flooded.
Beyond flooding and infrastructure damage, the heavy rain also triggered multiple landslides along the Puerto Plata-Navarrete highway. Slope failures were recorded in the El Copey community of Altamira, as well as at the main entrance to the highway’s tunnel, closing sections of the critical intercity route.
In response to the crisis, José Ignacio Paliza, the Dominican Republic’s Minister of the Presidency, announced that an official emergency assessment and relief mission would launch in the early hours of Sunday. Paliza confirmed the government’s commitment to supporting impacted families in a post to his official social media account, writing, “We are heading to Puerto Plata to assist the families affected by the heavy rains of the last few hours. God is in control!”