Shocked Dominican Republic residents claim they were not warned that towns would be totally flooded after storm water was released from a dam near bursting point.At least seven people were killed and thousands of horrified residents forced to leave their homes as water levels rose to inundate seven towns. The devastation occurred after Tropical Storm Olga lashed the Caribbean region, dumping heavy rains that forced authorities to release water from an nearly full dam into an already swollen river.
Locals' complaints they were not warned of the water release from the dam were disputed by civil defence official Octavio Rodriguez.
"We knew the damage we were going to cause below. We did not want to, but we had to," Mr Rodriguez said.
In light of the potential catastrophe of a dam collapse, he called the resulting death toll "acceptable." (Sky News)
