Country improves on natural disasters, but risk still high: Report

Santo Domingo.- Dominican Republic gained two positions,but still among the 34 most-at-risk countries to natural disasters, says the WorldRisk Report 2015, published in collaboration with UN University.

Among the 171 most at risk countries, Dominican Republic ranks25th, with 49% vulnerability. In the 2014 report, it ranked 23rdat 49.69% vulnerability.

The report didn’t consider the figure an improvement for thatyear since the country was in 26th, with 48.74% vulnerability in2013.

Haiti, the nearest neighbor was 21st in 2015,with 73.36% vulnerability, the same as in 2014.

The World Risk Report relies on individual country data,among them the number of public infrastructure and the quality of medical, educationaland housing services.

It analyzes the likelihood of an extreme natural event andwhether it will affect people, how vulnerable are the people to naturaldisasters, how can societies cope and whether they are taking preventivemeasures for future risks.

Due to its geographical location, the Dominican Republic isexposed to hurricanes, whose active season in the Atlantic is from June 1 to Nov.30.

It’s also vulnerable to earthquakes from the seismic faultsthat crisscross it and border its territory.