Saturated ground and relentless rainfall have thrown Barahona into chaos. Thousands of residents remain stranded without clean water or safe shelter.
The streets—already rough and unpaved—are now awash with muddy water and strewn with debris. Hurricane Melissa struck Barahona hard, but conditions have only deteriorated since then. Now, a new tropical wave has swept through, causing even more flooding.
Over the weekend, heavy rain from the latest weather system combined with an existing trough, triggering fresh floods throughout the southern region. With the land already soaked by Melissa, the new deluge had nowhere to go. Emergency crews scrambled to evacuate residents from areas overtaken by overflowing rivers and streams.
In Camboya, a canal broke its banks, forcing rescuers to pull families from their homes. Five households ended up sheltering in a nearby school. Officials pleaded with others to evacuate before conditions worsened, as water levels continued to rise.
Major flooding caused by heavy rainfall in Barahona, Dominican Republic 🇩🇴 pic.twitter.com/TjJhSJa7UY
— Disaster News (@Top_Disaster) November 2, 2025
Barahona’s malecón—the seafront avenue—was submerged, along with the central market and neighborhoods such as La Playa and Villa Estela.
“This tropical wave has done what Hurricane Melissa didn’t,” said Jairo Ramos, chief of the La Ciénega Fire Department, as he helped clear out flooded homes. “It’s flooded houses, overflowed rivers, and caused real damage.”
With the ground so saturated, every additional rain shower poses new problems. When Melissa hit as a tropical storm in October—before growing into a massive Category 5 hurricane—it drenched Barahona completely. Now, after another weekend of heavy rain, fears of landslides and flash floods are mounting.
Barahona remains under a green alert, along with 13 other provinces. The Emergency Operations Center has warned that more rain is expected, and with the soil already waterlogged, flash flooding is almost inevitable—especially in the areas most frequently affected.
The impact on daily life is severe. “The rain has hit hard here. Very hard. Every time it rains, this neighborhood floods from all sides,” said Mario Cuevas, 28, from Don Bosco, one of Barahona’s poorest neighborhoods. His home, made of wood and zinc, is barely holding together. “If it keeps raining, it’s going to fall to pieces,” he said.
Across Barahona, residents are erecting zinc sheets, patching roofs, and hoping the next storm won’t destroy what remains of their homes. “We’re worried because we don’t know how we’re going to get through this,” said Carlos Pineda, 32, who just replaced his leaking roof. “We’re here for whatever God decides.”
The statistics are staggering. After Hurricane Melissa, 1.4 million people lost access to water. That number has dropped to about 250,000, but it’s still significant. More than 3,700 people nationwide had to abandon their homes. In some remote villages cut off by flooding, food has only arrived via drones.
Locals simply call it chaos. “The fields are collapsing, the neighborhoods are in need,” said Maris Gómez, 53. “It’s been very difficult. A chaos.”
Authorities continue to monitor the skies, tracking every new rain cloud drifting over the Caribbean. While Melissa’s main force has moved past Cuba, leftover clouds and new tropical waves ensure that the threat of flooding and landslides remains. For now, Barahona’s ordeal is far from over.
