标签： Dominican Republic

A rotating weather phenomenon that touched down in Constanza, a municipality located in the Dominican Republic’s La Vega province this past Thursday has been correctly identified by experts: it was not a tornado, but a dust devil, a relatively common weather event triggered by intense mid-afternoon heat and the presence of a low-pressure trough moving across the northern Caribbean.

This official clarification came from Jean Suriel, a leading Dominican meteorological analyst, who broke down the key characteristics that set this event apart from a tornado. Unlike tornadoes that develop from storm clouds downward toward the ground, dust devils form from the ground up. Visual footage captured by onlookers at the scene clearly shows powerful rotating gusts tearing the roofs off residential structures and local agricultural greenhouses, matching the formation pattern of a dust devil.

Suriel further explained that dust devils, the colloquial name for this type of small whirlwind, are typically short-lived events that are never connected to a funnel cloud like their more destructive tornado counterparts. As their name suggests, these rotating columns of air pick up massive volumes of dust, sand and loose topsoil from the ground as they move across the landscape, creating the visible swirling formation that alarms onlookers.

The meteorologist also noted that this event is far from unprecedented in the Dominican Republic. The most well-documented dust devil event in recent national history took place on July 4, 2023, in San Antonio de Guerra, a region located in the province of Santo Domingo.

Local residents who witnessed Thursday’s event took to social media to share their accounts and reported that the dust devil caused visible damage to multiple residential properties and harmed growing agricultural crops in the area. Video and testimony from bystanders captured the shock of the moment, with many onlookers sharing panicked religious exclamations, calling for divine protection for those in the path of the whirlwind. As of this report, official government agencies have not yet released formal statements assessing the full scope of damage caused by the event.

As a record-breaking summer heatwave continues to grip the nation, widespread power outages have reemerged as a top public grievance, forcing energy sector leaders to detail the roots of the crisis and lay out a multi-year roadmap to upgrade the country’s aging electrical infrastructure.

In a recent interview on the current affairs program *El Día*, Celso Marranzini, president of the Unified Council of Electricity Distribution Companies (CUED), broke his silence to offer an unfiltered assessment of the ongoing energy challenges facing the country. Marranzini confirmed that the current crisis stems from two overlapping factors: unprecedented extreme heat that has sent consumer electricity demand soaring to a historic peak of 4,330 megawatts, and decades of systemic neglect of preventive maintenance across the national grid.

Marranzini acknowledged that unplanned and scheduled power outages are universally frustrating, particularly amid sweltering temperatures that make extended loss of cooling unbearable for households. He emphasized that current planned interruptions are tied to critical preventive maintenance work, a necessary step to avoid far more catastrophic, longer-lasting system collapses that would result if overdue upgrades were delayed further. “If we skip maintenance, we don’t get scheduled outages — we get full system breakdowns, and that outcome is far worse,” he argued. He also clarified that unplanned nighttime outages are almost always the result of unexpected equipment failures, as scheduled maintenance work is not conducted after hours.

The CUED president added that the ongoing Central American Games have contributed modestly to elevated overall consumption, though the event is not a primary driver of the current outage crisis. He also noted stark regional disparities in grid health: the Eastern distribution zone has historically been the most under-maintained, suffering from a staggering 54% energy loss rate, in sharp contrast to the far more stable Central Polygon region.

Looking ahead, Marranzini outlined a suite of short- and long-term initiatives to stabilize and expand the national electrical system. Currently, distribution companies are conducting aggressive vegetation pruning to eliminate the risk of tree branches coming into contact with exposed power lines, a common cause of unplanned outages. Starting next year, the sector will roll out “hot pruning” — a technique that allows maintenance crews to trim vegetation near live lines without shutting down power to local communities.

A key ongoing modernization effort is the mass deployment of smart meters across the grid. Marranzini explained that these devices automatically detect faulty metering and allow officials to crack down on widespread energy theft, a practice often linked to the so-called “meter mafia” that has siphoned billions in revenue from the sector. He noted that full buildout of a fully functional smart meter network will take approximately eight years to complete.

Major infrastructure investments are already scheduled for this year, with additional large-scale projects set to be financed via partnerships with international development banks starting in 2025. Among the flagship upcoming projects is a plan that will bring upgraded electrical service to roughly 324,000 households across underserved regions. In collaboration with the Ministry of Energy and Mines, distribution companies are also developing a smart public lighting system that will allow remote monitoring of street lamps, automated status checks, and adjustable brightness based on time of day to cut down on unnecessary energy waste.

Another high-priority project set for tender in the near term is the installation of 200 megawatts of grid-scale battery storage capacity, paired with the country’s existing solar energy farms. The storage system will store excess solar energy generated during daylight hours for deployment during peak evening demand periods, helping to reduce strain on fossil-fuel powered generation capacity after sunset.

Marranzini also addressed the ongoing financial challenges facing the national electricity sector, confirming that the government provides $930 million in annual operating subsidies, even as the sector still faces an annual structural operating deficit of $500 million. He also clarified recent public controversy over summer tariff increases, and addressed public concern around the viral case of a local baker facing crippling accumulated energy debt.

In Santiago Rodríguez, a new cross-institutional working group has been formed to strengthen the implementation of the country’s landmark 2012 Animal Protection and Responsible Ownership Law (Law 248-12), bringing together representatives from dozens of government and non-profit organizations focused on animal welfare across the province.

The inaugural gathering centered on clarifying role boundaries for participating institutions, addressing existing gaps in cross-agency communication, and building formal coordination frameworks that have been lacking since the law was passed more than a decade ago. For animal welfare advocates, fragmented institutional responsibility has long weakened enforcement of animal protection standards, leaving cases of abuse, abandonment and overpopulation unaddressed in many parts of the province.

Yadira Rivas, president of the regional animal welfare NGO Manadas de Rescate Noroestana Foundation, which led the initiative, told attendees that aligned action is critical to upholding the law. She underlined that all relevant entities must fully understand the mandates assigned to them under Law 248-12, particularly when responding to systemic issues like large-scale animal abuse, widespread pet abandonment, and chronic canine and feline overpopulation. A key point Rivas raised that extends far beyond animal welfare is the interconnectedness of animal protection to broader community well-being: strong animal protection policies directly improve public health outcomes, boost community safety, support sustainable livestock production, drive inclusive local economic development, and raise overall quality of life for provincial residents.

Rivas opened her remarks by thanking Santiago Rodríguez Governor Glehany Azcona Torres for supporting the convening of cross-sector stakeholders, a step that has laid the groundwork for future collaborative action. Moving forward, her foundation will host a series of targeted orientation sessions for agency representatives to help each entity map its specific responsibilities under the law, build shared response protocols, and streamline communication during emerging animal welfare crises.

During the meeting, Rivas also highlighted a key gap in participation that organizers aim to address in future gatherings: many institutions sent mid-level staff rather than executive decision-makers to the first working group meeting. The presence of senior leaders with authority to approve policy changes and allocate resources, she noted, would significantly speed up the adoption of new measures and ensure consistent follow-through on commitments made by the working group.

Participants agreed that a follow-up meeting will be held in 25 days to review progress on initial planning steps and launch the first round of coordinated enforcement actions. In a key policy position laid out during the gathering, Rivas explicitly rejected the common practice of poisoning free-roaming dogs as a solution to overpopulation, arguing that the crisis can only be resolved through long-term, humane strategies: expanded public education on responsible pet ownership, widespread access to low-cost or free sterilization services, and consistent enforcement of the existing animal protection law.

Law 248-12, the national legislation at the center of the working group’s work, formally enshrines the Dominican state’s obligation to protect animal rights, shield animals from abuse, abandonment, neglect, cruelty and all other forms of violence, and promote conservation of native species and their natural habitats. Rivas closed the gathering by emphasizing that cross-institutional alignment will deliver widespread benefits for the entire province: “When institutions work together, the entire province benefits.” Her remarks were confirmed and shared by journalist and local community leader Juan Pablo Bourdierd Núñez.

In Puerto Plata, a coordinated security initiative led by the Dominican National Police’s Northern Regional Directorate and the General Directorate of Traffic and Land Transportation Security (DIGESETT) is now underway, with patrols and checkpoints deployed across multiple key locations throughout the city. Headed by General Pablo Francisco Ortega Brito, the operation centers on proactive crime prevention, rather than just response to incidents, with core goals including strengthening overall community security, upholding public order, and ensuring residents can go about their daily lives without fear of disruption or harm.

The joint effort builds on ongoing preventative work from both institutions, which has long focused on improving safety and oversight along Puerto Plata’s major arterial roads and transportation corridors. By combining the law enforcement capacities of the national police and traffic safety authority, officials aim to address emerging security risks before they escalate, cracking down on roadside crime, unlicensed transportation activity, and other public disturbances that impact local communities and visitors alike. The operation forms part of a broader regional strategy to maintain stable, safe public spaces across the northern region of the Dominican Republic, with updates to be shared through the directorate’s strategic communications office as the initiative progresses.