UNDRO case report - Dominican Republic Hurricanes David and Frederic - August/September 1979.

In late August and early September 1979, Hurricanes David and Frederic ravaged the Caribbean region with force probably unprecedented in this century. Hurricane David entered the mainland approximately 40km west of Santo Domingo. David's eye had a diameter of about 880 km with its fringes touching Santo Domingo on one side and the city of Azua on the other. Following a NNW trajectory, David left the country from the extreme north-west and affected the north-east of Haiti, although with much less force. Four days later Hurricane Frederic, following a somewhat similar path and carrying far heavier rainfall than David, although with less intense winds (74 km per hour), brought week long downpours and caused extensive damage which aggravated an already disastrous situation and severely hampered both damage assessment operations and rescue and relief efforts. Once again, the generous solidarity of the international community proved vital in helping to overcome this disaster. Thanks to the support given by governments, national and international agencies and the United Nations system, the Dominican Republic was able to cover most needs of the hurricane victims and undertake rehabilitation and reconstruction tasks in a reasonably short time