Authorities in the Dominican Republic have stepped up early public preparations after national meteorological officials issued an advance warning of significant unstable weather set to sweep across the northern region of the country starting this weekend. The Dominican Institute of Meteorology (Indomet) announced Friday that a low-pressure trough will begin impacting the country starting Sunday afternoon, May 17, bringing heavy sustained rainfall that will linger across Dominican territory through the following Wednesday.
Gloria Ceballos, director of Indomet, noted the incoming weather system will not only bring heavy downpours but also carry the risk of secondary severe hazards including sudden thunderstorms and isolated hail events. She emphasized that this month’s weather patterns have diverged from typical seasonal trends, explaining that while soil moisture levels across the country are not currently saturated, the highly unstable atmospheric conditions will still create dangerous severe weather.
Ceballos justified the decision to issue the warning three full days in advance during a public press briefing, pointing out that a large share of Dominican citizens step away from news updates during the weekend. Early dissemination of the alert, she argued, gives communities and households adequate time to put precautionary measures in place before the system arrives.
In coordination with the meteorological service’s warning, the Dominican Emergency Operations Center (COE) has already activated a green alert for five northern Dominican provinces: Montecristi, Puerto Plata, Valverde, Dajabón, and Santiago Rodríguez. The alert is in response to elevated risks of flash flooding, urban flooding, and overflowing of low-lying rivers, streams, and ravines across these regions.
This alert comes on the heels of a separate precautionary order COE issued tied to planned operations at the Valdesia Hydroelectric Plant. The emergency agency had already banned recreational activities including swimming and crossing at rivers, streams, and bathing areas along the Nizao River, urging nearby communities to stay prepared for changing conditions. The restriction applies specifically to the stretch of the Nizao running from the Las Barías Counter Reservoir to the river’s mouth, where controlled water release operations will be carried out as scheduled.