Abinader thanks the people for their behavior during Melissa's visit.

President Luis Abinader thanked the Dominican population on Sunday afternoon for their behavior, which included the vast majority of them adhering to the preventive measures put in place by the Government "to preserve lives" and avoid further damage during the passage of Storm Melissa , which is now a Category 4 hurricane.

"Therefore, we are also grateful, as Alberto Caminero (Presidential Press Director) said, that the vast majority of Dominicans collaborated with preventive measures to minimize, as has been done, the damage in general terms," ​​he emphasized.

The head of state spoke during the press conference held by the government at the National Palace to inform the public about Melissa and its impact on the country. He was accompanied by Vice President Raquel Peña; Juan Manuel Méndez, Director of the Emergency Operations Center (COE); Gloria Ceballos, Director of the Dominican Institute of Meteorology (Indomet), among other officials.

Since Wednesday the 22nd, the government suspended teaching in schools and universities, as well as public and private activities, starting at noon as a preventive measure against the effects of Melissa on the country, a phenomenon that practically remained stationary for several days. Starting Thursday, work was suspended in the provinces on red alert until Saturday.

The president extended his special thanks to the members of the Civil Defense and other relief agencies , as well as to neighborhood associations , mayors, private companies, among others.

"I also want to highlight the work of Civil Defense, which helped with prevention and saving lives, removing people from vulnerable places, homes, and families, and this was done quite efficiently," he said.

"The truth is that it has been a very beautiful and efficient example of coordination. Thank you very much, have a good Sunday, and may God bless you all." Luis Abinader, President of the country

Among the institutions, he mentioned the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources ( Indrhi ) and the Dominican Hydroelectric Generation Company ( Egehid ) "for having maintained the protocol in the dams, for having carried out the prior drainage so that there would be no complications as had occurred in the past."

"And to all the institutions , they've all coordinated in the best possible way, and we'll continue to do so, because this is still an event that will continue to affect a part of the south of the country," he said.

• At the press conference, it was also announced that starting Monday, the country would return "to normal " with regard to the reopening of classes and the return to work in both the public and private sectors. These measures are only exempt in the four provinces on red alert.

"With the exception of those four provinces that are close to the southwest, the province of Barahona , the province of Pedernales , Bahoruco and the province of Independencia, the entire country is already heading towards a process of normality ," said Abinader .

He also emphasized that the outlook for the nation following Hurricane Melissa was "negative," but thanks to the measures implemented, everything turned out well.

"If you looked at the national and international forecasts for this storm, they were practically very negative, and that's why we took every measure to mitigate any damage , as we have," he emphasized.

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