Santo Domingo, Aug 23 (EFE).- Heavy rains brought by tropical storm Franklin were pummeling the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, officials said.
Although Franklin made landfall in the south of the country in the area of Barahona and Pedernales, it is also raining heavily in the capital, as well as in the southeast, an area that is popular with tourists, the Emergency Operations Center (COE) said in a statement.
Some 30 families in Barahona have been displaced by the storm.
More than 2,700 shelters have been set up around the Dominican Republic.
The whole country is under alert, with 25 provinces in red and the other seven in yellow.
“Teams were placed where flooding traditionally occurs and contingency plans of institutions and first response agencies were activated,” Juan Manuel Mendez, COE director, said.
According to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), Franklin made landfall Wednesday on the southern coast of the Dominican Republic, near Barahona, with torrential rains, sustained winds of 85 kilometers (52.8 miles) per hour and a sustained pressure of 1,000 millibars.
It is expected that during the passage of Franklin there will be accumulated rainfall levels of 300 millimeters or more. EFE
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