SANTO DOMINGO – Two people missing, 14,796 displaced and more than 2,900 homes damaged or destroyed is the total to date from the intense rains and flooding over the past week in the Dominican Republic, where 25 of the country’s 32 provinces have been placed on alert, authorities said on Tuesday.

A total of 14,695 people have moved into the homes of relatives and friends as a result of the damage to their own houses from the rain and flooding or because the structures are otherwise at risk, while 101 people are being put up in official shelters.

President Danilo Medina traveled on Tuesday to Barahona province to view the damage caused by the rains, and he told reporters upon his arrival there that he will also visit Pedernales, also in the southwestern part of the country.

Medina met on Monday with members of emergency officials and other institutions monitoring the situation, the President’s Office said in a statement.

Medina instructed officials to “make every effort to protect human lives.”

According to the Emergency Operations Center (COE), the rains have damaged 2,939 homes, destroyed five others and cut off 61 towns.

The inclement weather has also damaged nine bridges, 10 roads and 28 aqueducts.

Four of the country’s provinces are on red alert, 11 on yellow alert and 10 on green alert – the minimum level – according to the COE.

Authorities have rescued 19 people who were endangered by the rains and flooding, while two people are missing in the town of El Naranjal, in Barahona province, after a local river rose significantly.

The National Meteorology Office reported Tuesday that the rains will continue for the next 24-48 hours.