Death Toll In Caribbean From Tropical Storm Olga Rises To 25

Thursday, December 13th 2007, 11:16 am

By: News On 6

SANTIAGO, Dominican Republic (AP) _ Dominican authorities reported 11 more deaths Thursday in floods caused by Tropical Storm Olga, raising the Caribbean-wide death toll to 25.

Most were killed in the central Dominican Republic province of Santiago after officials, fearing a collapse of a dam, ordered the release of water into the Yaque River that inundated seven towns.

``We knew the damage we were going to cause below. We did not want to, but we had to,'' Octavio Rodriguez, a member of the committee that decided to open the floodgates, told The Associated Press.

The storm was also blamed for two deaths in northern Haiti and one in Puerto Rico.