Tropical Storm "Noel"

October 28 to 31, 2007
This storm caught everybody by surprise, the storm developed close to the south coast and dumped 580 mm of rain in 48 hours, more than our whole yearly average of 550 mm!
Although the winds where not that devastating as with past huricanes the the tremendous amounts of water did as much or more damage. 50 persons are reported dead, many unaccounted for, 58'000 persons are displaced, many houses washed away, power lines are down and two major bridges destroyed so that the whole south will be inaccessible for a while.
The damage to agriculture is especially bad, much arable land has been washed away, Organic Bananas the major export crop of hundreds of co-operative small farmers in the Azua area have been blown down and it will take at least three month’s until production is back to normal.
It will be hard for farmers to survive without external help, as recuperation of fields and maintenance costs remain, without the weekly income from banana sales (there is no crop -insurance or government assistance available). Fields which have been underwater for more than 3 days will have to be completely replanted, taking a year until first harvest.